school daze

the big kids started school yesterday.
it was both a relief and a grief, if that is possible.
as soon as they got on the bus, a funny friend appeared.
guilt. my old pal.

so - i ironed...
'cause that's what sane people do when they feel guilty.
right? right?!?!

i ironed school outfits for this week and next.
(don't worry, this will wear off soon)
as i ironed i let the guilt sink in.

we didn't make it to kennywood a second time.
ditto for the zoo.
why don't i home school?
what, am i freaking crazy?
i can't home school.
duh!
did we watch too much spongebob?
why didn't we make those cute christmas ornaments?
why am i so happy they are going back?
does everyone feel this way?
i hate that i feel this way.
i miss them already.
why was i not brave enough to take them to the pool all by myself?
why am i ironing t-shirts?
why don't i home school?
that gets funnier every time.
i could be completely insane.

after this cathartic ironing session, i did other "sane" things. i made detangler (future post), cleaned out the butterfly pavilion (another future post), did some laundry, ate tomatoes and cookies for lunch, and started to feel a little better.

i looked around.
so much to do.
so i flipped through 5 better homes and gardens.
(third post's a charm)

btw - the three-year-old talked through all of this. in fact, she never stopped talking from the time she got up until she went to bed last night. she was so thrilled with the one-on-one-ironing attention. she was delightful. until about 3pm, then not as much.

i started to think about all the fun things we did do this summer.

grandparents, beaches, amusement parks, zoo, butterflies, painting, sidewalk chalk, bike riding, swimming, trail walking, cousins, baseball park tour, restaurants, s'mores, lightning bugs, camp fires, birthday parties, washing cars, girl scout camp, math books, sprinklers... etc.

hmm, i guess we did have some laughs.
we were busy.

they crashed through the door. smashed through all my warm and fuzzy thoughts. hungry and tired, but excited and laughing, talking about their day. and already thinking about tomorrow.

maybe no need to home school after all? right? right?!?!