Random Bits of This & That: Back To School Again

Woe is me, all summer long I was happy and free.
Save my soul, the board of education took away my parole.
I gotta go back, back, back to school again.
You won't find me 'til the clock strikes three;
I'm gonna be there 'til then...
I gotta go back, back, back to school again.
Whoa, whoa, I gotta go... back to school again!

The Four Tops Compliments of the Grease2 soundtrack.

"Woe is me" is absolutely what my overloaded brain has been saying, and I'm not even the one going back to school! I know I should be excited for the kids to go back - and at some level I am, but I also fight the urge to somehow freeze time in its tracks. Lane is entering HIGH SCHOOL this year and Josh is entering his SENIOR YEAR OF HIGH SCHOOL...to graduate early in December. Dear Lord, where exactly did the last 12 years disappear to? I have pictures of their first day of Kindergarten, recall how scared I was to leave them - wondering if they would be scared, cry, act out, get picked on by the other kids, have their lunch stolen by the class bully, make friends, etc. etc. And through the years those same worries would surface time and again, with new worries added along the way as they made their way up the elementary school ladder into middle school, switching schools when we made the big move "out west".

Back to school has an entirely different meaning to parents than it does for our children. We deal with the emotional aspect of sending our children off for the day, to navigate the complex social structure of middle school and high school, to be looked after and cared for by people we don't know, simply hoping that all the balls fall into place for happy, healthy learning experience. Sigh. Not sure where I'm going with this. Suffice it to say, my children are growing up and this mama, while proud and happy they are becoming their own individuals...is having issues with saying that one will be graduating in 4 short months. Josh is preparing for back to school on his own this year, not wanting (or needing) his MOTHER to help pick out school supplies and new clothes...chuckling when I offered to go with him.

So while I try to keep emotions and sanity in check, Lane and I concentrate on the must-have's for entering high school...spending an afternoon going through every piece of clothing, shoe, sock, accessory and purse in her closet to see what still makes the cut and what needs to head to the resale shop. Time well spent!

A trip to Plato's Closet was in order and we did very well....! Lane was ecstatic, to say the least. Over the course of 2 days, we spent almost 4 hours perusing the racks and finding, okay, are your ready?? Finding 3 pairs of jeans, 11 shirts, 3 belts and 1 headband (for me..I had to have something too!) to start out the schoolyear. Woot Woot! I am so very thankful Lane loves to shop at this store! We're talking the big name stuff that she drools over (Abercrombie, Hollister, Pink, American Eagle) and I refuse to buy "new", though about half of the new loot still had original tags and we paid a FRACTION of the price.

She even happily did her after-dinner chores without eye-rolling or heavy sighing!

But she still hides when she see's the camera! "Mom, I look terrible ...you better not post these anywhere!"

And in other random bits of Mahoney news...after a few setbacks with potty-training last month, the little sprout has been accident free during the day for awhile and was ready to move past Pull-ups...so over the weekend we headed out and let her pick out big-girl-unders! Minnie and Ariel of course. I wish I had thought to take the camera to the store - her smile couldn't have been wider, she held them in her hands the entire trip back through the store. And on the way home she couldn't resist tearing into one of the packages, I turned around to see new Minnie-unders pulled up her legs to the point where the harness on her carseat blocked them from going any further - the biggest smile on her face!! I tell ya, I should have brought the camera!! What a big day...for all of us. Mommy and Daddy, while so excited for our big girl, were also sad to be putting yet another bit of her "baby-days" behind us.