Back to Better

Today I'm back to my life. I found out yesterday that I can leave my daughter at school until 1:00 instead of picking her up at 11:30 (which is what I did yesterday). They had said the specialty class thingy wouldn't start til next week so I just figured that meant I needed to pick her up early. Not true. She could still stay and eat lunch and play until 1:00. None of this means anything to you but yesterday sucked having to get her and get home and eat lunch and go back to get her brother and then fall asleep in the car and cry and want to push the elevator button and I'm like is this really my life?

No. That is not my life. My life goes like this: I bring two delightfully cheery kids to the Jewish Community Center and no one cries and everyone hugs their teachers (whom they've known for two days) and I leave via the coffee cart that's free this first week and get myself a latte. I drive home stress free enjoying my latte, get into my studio and do my WORK. For FOUR UNINTERRUPTED HOURS. That's a lot of CAPS. And soon I will pick them up in time for my daughter's nap and my son and I will print out the orders that have piled up over vacation since that's his favorite activity.

And today I realized something very interesting that I will share with you. My son apparently needs a change of venue to have a change of attitude. Like many of us. He had been at his old school for THREE years and almost everyday he was clingy to one degree or another. He loved his school and his teachers. But he developed this habit of behaving a certain way at drop off that he just couldn't shake no matter how comfortable he was or how excited he was to see his friend and teachers. Habits are tough that way. I suspected something was up when we came back from Santa Fe and he turned back into his usual self after an amazing week as a confident, helpful and happy little boy but my theory has been confirmed by his recent behavior at school. He's thrilled to be there. Doesn't know a soul and doesn't care. It's so refreshing.

And that makes me think we have to move so that we can break him of all of the habits he's developed over the last five years. And he may also needs new parents to fully execute on this social experiment. Just a thought. But maybe just a new house would do the trick.

My son showing some JCC pride.