Back to School Blues

Who am I kidding? I’m not blue, and neither are my kids. They love school and were happy it was time to return. It actually felt late, since we normally start back the first Friday in August. And yes, we didn’t get out this year until June 1. Not quite as late as some of you, but later than a lot. So pretty much ten calendar months of school. My personal opinion is that they are slowly but surely migrating towards year-round school here. We seem to get more breaks than many of you during the school year --- an entire week in October, an entire week at Thanksgiving, two weeks at Christmas, an entire week in February and an entire week in April, not to mention the various holidays, long weekends, and teacher-inservice days.

Personally, I quite like it. After nine weeks of summer vacation, let’s be honest. My kids were done. They were sick of each other and sick of me. And occasionally the feeling was mutual, especially when they would start arguing and bickering, although I would never admit it out loud. I enjoy having the weeks off, scattered throughout the school year. It gives us a long-enough chance to actually go DO something and provides a nice break from the homework routine, but isn’t so long that we all get bored with one another. Although this summer, in between our Lighthouse Retreat, honors camp, soccer camp, and our three-week OK/AK vacation, there wasn’t a lot of down time, either. And of course the non-stop watching of Hannah Montana, Suite Life, Corey in the House, and my kids’ most recent discovery, Drake and Josh. Let’s not forget about THOSE fun-filled hours! ::she said sarcastically::

I thought I would share with you some of the more random, entertaining answers they gave during our annual first-day-of-school interview, and then I think I’ll log off for a while. The heat index today is supposed to be 114, and yesterday, unloading $406 worth of groceries from my car (the hell? How is it I can spend that much money and we’re not eating prime rib every night???) I felt my face melting off and my body pretty much spontaneously combusted, which makes it very difficult to type with tiny charred fingers.

Brayden:

What did you think of your teacher the first day? “She seemed nice to the people who treated her nice, but a little bit bossy to the other kids.”

If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go? “Asia sounds cool.”

What is your most embarrassing moment? “I don’t have one for right now, but sometimes Kellen and Kendrie in public are embarrassing.”

Kellen:

What was the funniest thing that happened today? “When Xavier saw me and Gabriella, and he said, ‘Hey! It’s the two tallest people I know!’”

The biggest problem I have in school is: “This new girl named Angela who talks a lot. I don’t want to be her partner. I’m afraid she might get me in trouble.”

When I grow up I want to be: “CIA Ninja”

What do you think of your bedroom? “Well, we *have* been living here a long time and I’m kind of tired of looking at all the same things.”

Kendrie:

When I grow up I want to be: “I have no idea. I have a ton of things -- a vet, a doctor, a policeman, and a Mom.”

What do you think of your class this year? “It’s infected with meanie boys.”

Something you think is important about our world: “Don’t throw trash on the ground, and don’t smoke weed. I don’t know what that means, but I saw it on a commercial.”