Olive Juice Studio

 

 Tuesday, May 4, 2010 at 3:15pm

Please tell me…What’s wrong with this picture? Like many of you know, I’m a mom to two school aged boys – first and fourth grade. My confession is that I CAN’T WAIT UNTIL SCHOOL IS OUT!!!In fact, I’ve been secretly putting an “X” through each day since mid- April (Shhh! Don’t tell my kids, my husband or anyone I know…they all think I’m crazy as it is!) As of today, we have just 17 days to go before we’re free for three months! WoHOooO!!! Of course, my kids are excited for their summer vacation to begin too but they are also sad that the school year is drawing to an end. Yes, it does make me sad thinking that the end of each school year means my guys will be in a higher grade next fall which means they’re getting older (and I’M GETTING OLDER TOO)but that’s whyI try to squeeze the most ofout each day I spend with my kids….AND that’s why I scrapbook torecord those awesome memories. BUT…honestly, I am much more excited than they are because this means:

• No more rushing around in the morning (for three months – yeah!)trying to find a matching pair of socks without a hole in the toe….
• No more arguing with my fourth grader to wear socks with his sneakers on gym day so his classmates wouldn’t die from his smelly feet.
• No more trying to find the missing math paper that mysteriously disappeared from my fourth grader’s folder that it was put in the nigth before..
• No more packing lunches with completely different items for two little boys who are night and day only to get chewed out after school and laughed at by the crossing guard/lunch mom who witnessed a very teary eyed first grader whohad to eathis big brother’s sandwich soaked in ketchup instead of the veggie sub he requested..and of course having to listen to my fourth grader tell me “Nice try on packing a veggie sub for me mom…remember I don’t do green!”
• No more squabbles over bedtime…
• No more arguing about doing homework before playtime…
• No more cramming for a spelling test that was accidentally overlooked….
• No more signing slips for my fourth grader for forgetting his homework at school OR at home…
• No more school projects like the State Fair project my fourth grader and I finished yesterday after spending 30+ hours on it…
• No more furry fuzzy animals that cost mommy an arm and a leg because her son was assigned an animalwho’s fur was extinct (except for somegrossly overpriced fur that of course fit the bill and looked amazing)in all of Chicagoland from January-March which can now be found everywhere for a 1/4 of the cost.
• No more feeling guilty for not signing my first grader’s reading folder a million times this year (he really did do his reading BUT mom kept forgetting to sign)…
• No more papers that aren’t 12×12 in size and have writing all over them telling me about the next PTA social event…fundraiser..conference…fieldtrip…etc…
• No more road rage in the school parking lot when the same mom each and every day this year decides she needs to get out of the parking lot first even though the parking lot is in gridlock status she still pulls forward then backs up until she weazels her way out of her parking spot with less than an inch between her bumper and MINE (pretty much every day)…
• No more trying to talk my first grader out of wearing a mohawk to school ( he did win this battle on several occasions…you know what they say, choose your battles!Mom even styled his hair with 3/4 of a jar of sticky hair goop to spike the dickens out of it.I jusst want to know whathappened to the cute little boy look?)
• No more PTA functions..
• No more rushing to cram everything into the hours while my kids are at school so I can be back in time to pick them up…
• No more arguing with my first grader to eat breakfast before school (which is pure torture because he typically doesn’t eat until after 10AM).
• No more scrambling to find clean clothes only to remember I put the dirty clothes in the washing machine the night before but forgot to run it….
• No more cramming for a week planning den meetings for my Webelo I den and having to pick my brain for the right fieldtrip for each month…
• No more planning my husband’s den meeting for his Tiger den where he appears so prepared but yet has no clue how to make any of the crafts I so thoughtfully crafted for our little scouts (can you believe it?!)
• No more racing to den meetings and losing my voice for talking faster and louder than an auctioneer to 10 VERY active9 & 10 year olds for two hours straight…
• No more wiping tears from a sad face when someone at school says something hurtful.
• No more planning forCub Scout Pack Nights the first Friday of each month…
• (I could list another 20 plus “no mores” but I’m sure my ramblings have already bored you to tears so I will stop here.)

BUT….I will miss a few things…Such as my precious few moments with a hot cup of tea and the silence -free of bickeringwhen the kiddos first go off to school in the morning…volunteering at school in hopes of embarrassing my kids (just kidding – they love it)… talking to my mom possee before and after school…Going on “mom only” four mile power walks each morning…snuggling with my kids as they read and praising them for their hardwork…reviewing all of my children’s schoolwork and admiring their progress…working together on school projects (stressful and irritating at times but a fun way to spend time working on something together)…listening to the stories my kids share with me about their day at school and the conversations with their peers. I’ll also miss my cub scout den because I have a group of the 10 greatest boys in the fourth grade at our school.

17 more days until we can sleep in past 7AM…..we can eat breakfast for lunch…we can eat our breakfast/lunch/dinner outside in the backyard while swatting at the pesky little mosquitoes and bees….we can hop in the car at the last minute for an impromptu trip to the zoo…the aquarium…the park….a museum….the pool…the YMCA…a friend’s house….miniature golf…go-carts…we get to visit grandma in Michigan for a few weeks…we can go camping without trying to figure out a way to squeeze a few moments of family time out of a weekend…we can go to the library and read books we want to read….Mom gets to take her boys fishing since Daddy is squeamish around worms….we can stay up later and have a bonfire in the backyard ONA WEEKNIGHT.. and don’t forget the s’mores…we can .have campouts on the living room floor….we can build that fort we’ve been talking about doing all year….we get to all run through the garden barefoot and not have to worry about getting dirty….we can make projects/crafts that WE want to make not something that is assigned….bubble blowing contests…water balloon fights parents vs.the kids…squirt gun battles….jumping on the trampoline…bike rides….long leisurely walks…talking….just spending time together. And crafting….once summer vacation begins there seems to be more time for projects. AND this folks, is the confession of a mom needing a break so thatshe can refuel for the NEXT school year!
(To be continued…)

Olive a great confession, don’t you?

x EVOO (my other aliases include Olive Juice Studio’s Big Kahuna, Sicilian Green, or just Kim)