What to say, what to say. Hmm… It never fails after a blogging break that days are spent staring at the computer screen, fingers poised over the keys and the brain locked up tight with no idea what to put down. Then I received a copy of my automatic monthly billing for this domain and thought “Hello - you’re paying money for this you fool, and you’ve always enjoyed it so write something dammit.”

And here I am. The kids started school on Thursday - I can’t believe the summer is over just like that. I took a few hours off in the morning so I could attend with them. I brought Nick and Olivia in that morning and walked each of them to their classrooms. Nick started 6th grade so he was all “Bye Mom!” and gone like a shot. Olivia started 1st grade and was a bit more hesitant to go.

While the kids settled in their classrooms the parents waited in the multi-purpose room for the morning assembly to start. Each year they have a “Welcome Back” social complete with muffins, coffee and juice too. While I was sitting down, catching up with a few of the kids’ parents that I hadn’t seen all summer, my daughter came running in the room crying and threw her arms around me. “We have gym today and I don’t have my sneakers!” she sobbed. Being the first day she had chosen a new dress complete with tights and sparkly shoes. I assured her that it was not a problem; I would run home after assembly and bring back her sneakers for her. She wiped her tears and went back with the aide to her classroom.

Of course the other parents are all “Awww - someone’s having a hard time this morning.” And there I am trying to hold back the tears. It’s hard sometimes to resist that urge to shelter them every minute of their lives from adversity. But that’s not what’s best for them.

I went back to chatting to try and preoccupy my mind so I wouldn’t keep picturing Olivia looking so anguished and got into a conversation with a couple of parents, whose daughter is in my son Nick’s class, about sarcasm and our children. Sarcasm is second nature to me - in fact one of the things I love about my job is that I can be completely facetious all day long and not only is it considered acceptable but it’s encouraged and even to some extent respected. So the father says that in his opinion sarcasm is a sign of intelligence. I responded with:

“Well then, Nick must be a genius.”

He turns to me and says “Oh my God. You’re Nick’s Mom? That’s so awesome! I love Nick!”

And his wife chimes in “Oh I know, of all the boys in that class, I love Nick too.”

Too funny. While Nick is sarcastic like his mother, he never does it in a mean spirited way. It’s always done with the intent to evoke a laugh. And it usually works. He is the class clown, and he’s also one of the top students in the class. So I don’t worry about him. Even when his teachers tell me he has s tendency to get disruptive with his antics, they usually do so with a smile.

Olivia broke down 2 more times that day over riding the bus home and “having to learn so much stuff”. But I think it’s just about getting back to that focused work again. My kids have a very relaxed summer. Lots of playing outdoors and in the pool and just generally being kids. Time off is for taking it easy and having fun. That’s our philosophy anyway. And by day 2 - it was like Olivia had never left. We even got the following note sent home “Olivia has had a great 2 days. She raises her hand all the time to give information or share. I am so glad to have her in my class.”

So Tuesday, Elizabeth - my socially mute child - starts pre-school. I can’t wait to see how that goes. More tears, more guilt. *sigh* But maybe it will be okay. Who knows? Maybe she’ll surprise us all.