Schools Back In Session

It is time for school to go back in session. When the end of the year is coming, it's funny how you can't wait for them to get out of school so you longer have to wake up so early in the morning. Then by the end of summer, you can't wait for them to go back to school, so you have some peace and quiet during the day. I still don't escape having a house full of kids. I am the only mom of my kids friends who works out of their home, so I have four extra kids by 7am. The bus stop is directly across the street from our house and on the way to the school. So, our house is where the kids are meeting.

Summer just seemed to fly by this summer with all the trips back and forth to North Carolina and the kids spending two weeks in North Carolina with their grandparents. But, I am so ready for them finally to go back to school. It's been a busy summer this year and the kids were at each others throats more than usual this past summer. I don't know if it is the hormones or they are both in middle school now or a little of both. They are both entering into puberty and their personalities are changing. They are only a year apart and one is a girl and one is boy, so they are both entering puberty around the same time.

It's funny to see how they are both so concerned with their appearance. My son wanted his hair dyed blond and my daughter wanted highlights. I was a little surprised he doesn't look too bad as a blond, considering his natural hair color is black. When he gets dressed, he leaves a trail of cologne behind him where ever he walks. This year he changed the style of clothing he wears slightly, he still wears the dreaded skinny jeans, but he no longer wears the goofy t-shirts and he wants to walk to school with his friends. God help me, he has two different girls he has been texting all summer and one of them he claims is his girlfriend.

Sammy changed her hairstyle slightly, she looks like a little teenager with her highlights and her bangs cut into a side swipe and pushed to the side. She now curls her hair and I find her down stairs exercising. Her and her step-father go back and forth over her clothes. I think she likes giving him a heart attack. Because, she laughs when he says something to her about her clothes. He's not ready for her to start looking like a young teen girl and says he' going to purchase a gun to chase away the boys with now that she is starting middle school this year.

It is amazing how fast they grow over the summer. It's like with all the sunshine they get running around outside, they grow with the plants and flowers. They always seem to have this big growth spurt over the summer. Adam can reach the second shelf in the cabinet to get the granola bars down. I can't reach the granola bars on the second shelf, he is taller than me now. I have to climb on the counter or get a stool to reach the second cabinet. Sammy now wears the same size shoe as me and goes into my closet to get into my high heals to walk around the house in them. Nothing ever fits them, except for shirts and their shorts by the end of summer. Their jeans get to short and too tight and they can no longer fit into the shoes they wore at the end of the school year. By the end of summer they need a complete new wardrobe to begin the school year with.

Back To School

It's hard to believe Monday is August 1st already. Where did the summer go? It seems like summer just began and it's almost over. It's hard to believe I will be doing school shopping in a couple of weeks. School shopping is one of my most dreaded things I have to do. It is a massive shopping trip. My children can very rarely fit anything from the year before. It is like with all the sunshine and playing outside they grow like weeds over the summer months. I think sometimes they grow more over the summer months than they do all year round.

 Not only do you have to buy a new wardrobe, it is  constant reminder of how little the schools provide for the students anymore. It makes you wander where your tax money goes. The list is endless from the typical pens and pencils to the tissues and even Clorox Wipes for the classroom. I remember when I was growing up, the schools asked for the basics like pens, pencils, and note books. Plus, that's when kids used things like the comic section or brown paper bags to cover our books with.  Now, they want actual book covers and  everything under the sun and then more. Asking parents to donate things like paper towels, tissues, and hand sanitizers.

I remember when my son was in the first grade, his teacher drove us nuts with her requests. She would ask for more supplies than he could even use in one year. Later, I found out that she was taking the school supplies and putting them in the supplies cabinet and distributed them to the classroom. I figured that out when I called her, because she sent a request home for more school supplies half way through the year. She socked it to the parents who would send in school supplies. I wouldn't be surprised if the schools didn't start sending bills home for books. That will probably be next.