teacher gifts

These are what we are giving to the kiddo's teachers this year...

I love these rings and I love the thought of them resting on the hands of people who have opened up the world to my children. I love the thought of the rings even being inside of old jewelry boxes someday. Relics of a teacher's history.

I would have to have a Rx for xanax

I got so many nice emails & comments about how cool it was that I was a homeschooling
{in addition to all the other things i try and do} after this post. 
I was laughing and twitching.
I meant I felt like a "kick ass" home schooling mom!
Just to clarify- I do not home school my kiddos.
My Finn is a 1st grader in public school.
Little Blaise goes to preschool two days a week.
I would LOVE to do this but I don't have the skill set to do it properly.
I know this.
I am jealous of all my friends who can do this with grace, but I cannot.
I know my limits. {sometimes}


I do pick a theme each month and "teach" the family about this theme.
We have a blast. It is like "homeschooling lite" I guess.

I just write on the family calendar three things each month:
-A theme we wanna try and learn
-A song or artist to explore
-any holidays

It seems to work.
But I can barely get Finn to school by 8:10.
I forget to pack his lunch weekly.
Life is hard.
How do you all do it all?

photo source

and I'll cry if i want to

it's not new
and to the more seasoned veterans of the asphalt jungle
it is old news

The release of the young to the others.
We stood there today and felt quite awkward just like we should have.

Standing there and really fighting back the tears
with a hand on his small shoulder
nudging him to the teacher
to the new important adult in his life
to someone else who will tell him things
and see his mouth open with amazement
tiny teeth sparkling

We stood there and it was like the adults were all struck mute-
only able to motion to their young.
like hand signals in baseball or something
Everyone was just waving and blowing kisses and acting strange.
and there was a lot of flash photography involved


We stood there and watched the ten seconds it took for the Kindergarten class
to disappear in tidy formation into the brick schoolhouse...
I looked until his blond hair snapped around the corner and he was gone from me.
We all then
deflated
and walked to our cars
and pushed our strollers towards the future.

biochemical changes are taking place in my muscles

Today we walked the route to school. Practicing. It was a sweat 14 minutes, but not all bad.
Our route takes us through the very posh Frank Lloyd Wright Mid-Century modern village near our home. It also entails a wooded staircase and a path through a tiny forest.
It is very quaint.
It is kinda charming although my ass cheeks are throbbing.

We did the whole power walk thing on the way home. Snow is going to suck.
I am strangely aware that in four days I am going to be initiated into some new society.
The playground moms.
I see them at the playground after school.
They look cool.

I am an ass throbbing misfit.

For the record-Finn is very excited about school.
I am the nervous one.