And There Was Much Weeping and Gnashing of Teeth

Sigh…

Sigh again…

School has started.

Let me take a moment to compose myself.

OK, I’m feeling better now.  On to the obligatory “Back to School” post.

In preparation for the new school year, and to save some all important $$$, I finally got Todd to cancel our cable.  Well, he mostly cancelled it.  We are on the most basic plan that we can possibly be on.  Which means we only get local channels and TBS.  Go figure.  I eagerly anticipated television free nights of game playing and family fun.  The first night, I caught Emma watching “Sex and the City.”  Josh and Jakob quickly discovered that public television has really lame cartoons, too.  And I – I’m so ashamed to admit this – but without my TLC, I’ve started watching “Gossip Girl.”  Who knew that losing cable would actually lower our TV viewing standards?  But watching very pretty people doing very bad things is really kind of fun.

With their television viewing so unsuccessfully curtailed, the children were ready to move on to their first day of school.  (I apologize in advance for the bad, uncropped pictures.  Our computer died a few days ago and  haven’t gotten around to putting my photo editor back on yet.  Now you all know what a bad photographer I am.)

Sarah ended up going to our local high school after I did the math and realized the other school would require driving an extra 15 miles each day.  She’s surviving so far.  But I’m having a little bit of trouble controlling my panic attacks every morning when I drop her off and see all of the high school boys milling around.  She’ll be able to go on dates in one month.  I. Am. Not. Ready.

Daniel is at the Jr. High.  He lucked out and essentially got his dream schedule.  He even has PE the last period of the day.  Lucky, lucky boy.  And now, for a very important announcement:  His voice is changing.  It’s HILARIOUS.  But I know that I shouldn’t laugh.  That would make me a very bad mother.  You have no idea how difficult it is for me to be good sometimes.

Emma is in fourth grade.  She’s already forgetting to bring home notes and leaving homework assignments at school.  You’ll notice in the picture that she’s even forgotten her glasses.  It’s gonna be a great year.

Joshua is in kindergarten.  His official first day was yesterday.  I realized just how far I have fallen as a mommy when I saw the mom just ahead of me taking pictures of her little boy in front of the school, walking into the school, walking into the classroom, and giving the teacher a small bouquet of flowers.  FLOWERS!  While the jaded part of me wanted to scream, “Suck up!” a bigger part of me was jealous because I hadn’t thought of giving the teacher flowers.  It’s day one and I’m already losing the “Best Mommy” contest.  And all of my kids’ back to school pictures look like mugshots.  There’s no creativity whatsoever.  What has happened to me?!

Next year, the back to school pictures will be very creative, I promise.  And they just may include shots of my kids giving their teachers very tasteful floral arrangements.  With chocolate.

Oh, and Josh’s verdict on the big first day:  “It was boring.”