This morning Julia told me that she wanted to sleep some more. “I don’t WANT to go to kindergarten!”
So I pulled the Mom Classic of going selectively deaf. “Get up. You have to eat breakfast.”
Paul didn’t get her to bed on time last night and she’s grumpy. But Julia is actually adjusting well and she’s having a lot of fun at school with her new teacher and classmates.
She woke me up on “first day of school Monday” an hour before schedule breathless with anticipation. “Mommy! It’s time for kindergarten! We’re going to be late!”
Me?
The first day back to school after walking her in, I took another mom friend to breakfast to celebrate the summer being over. For SAHMs, summer is the crazy time of the year. Boy, was I was feeling it! Running ragged, cranky, low on sleep…
I did nothing that first day. One of my rare days OFF from everything!
Over the next few days I slowly got back into catching up some volunteer work. I marveled over being able to sit down to a task, work through it all the way, and then turn my attention to something else. Without interruption. Without endless questions.
I’m excited about what I’m doing again. I feel productive again instead of all my attention going to the “childcare giving” portion of my SAHM gig.
I even got my teeth cleaned!
Over the last few days, I’ve actually been able to stay awake and be pleasant in the afternoon because I’m not running after a lively 5 year old for 12 hours solid. I look forward to going to pick her up and the short walk back home when she bounces along babbling with enthusiasm about her day. It charms me and I gain a new sense of appreciation for my child.
Today is Friday, so I turn my focus over to the house.
Which is a wreck, of course. It went to hell in the summer.
I’m not crazy about the clutter, but there are bits to it that I do love. Paul’s tireless paper models at the dining table means eating dinner on it is hard, but it also means he gives Julia an enviable army of dinosaurs.
“Are these going to be here forever?” I asked.
“No, they are for Julia. And you know sooner or later she’s going to smash them up and they’ll have to go.”
Knowing that, he’s still sitting there most nights gluing things with tweezers.
I don’t have that sort of patience. Mine is a different kind.
I’ve been having landscapers out here to grade the lawn, mulch, and tidy around to set me up for a larger kitchen garden space. Julia and I had a good time over the last two years building it up to 100 sq feet and figuring out how to to cope with growing food in this zone.
Over the summer, I broke it down early. In the last few weeks I’ve had landscapers regrade the lawn away from the house to improve drainage. They also mulched that whole side section — something like 17 ft x 50 ft — and built me a small retaining wall.
I was secretly pleased when I heard them admiring my soil. My mom the flower gardener envies my soil but now professionals appreciated it too. Florida tends to be all sandy and difficult. I’ve been actively trying to build up our soil though. Some days I feel like the crazy compost lady instead of the crazy cat lady.
My hands today are going to be busy with tidying clutter away and general housework. But my head is out in the yard, contemplating…rearranging…planning for the raised beds and what I’m going to grow.
I love Fall. For us here in Florida, it’s the other Spring. A blank slate, a fresh start to new adventures.
