School Uniforms and Silence

Hello. You missed me. Didn't you? God, I hope so. Otherwise, I might be just some crazy lady posting about her life on the internet hoping that someone out there might read it and laugh. (Oh, wait.....)

It is official! It is that time of year. Children dread it. Mothers await it with a type of unholy glee. Personally, I had a countdown on my phone. (Allow me a moment to wallow in my terrible mother guilt....done!) It is the beginning of the new school year. I have never wanted school to start more than I did this year. All of the girls are in school this year. My babies are growing up. Sniffle. School for moms is bittersweet. You get home that first day and listen to the silence. (So that's what that is. Hmm.) Five minutes later the silence is getting to you. Mothers learn after a while to distrust silence. Silence means trouble. That kind of hard wiring is not easy to ignore. I literally walked circles around the house that first day. I was so BORED! Fortunately, I got over it. I am relearning how to entertain myself.

The girls have to wear school uniforms this year. My little fashionistas HATE it. They rebel against the machine (Yes, it makes me nervous for the teenage years!) by wearing wild socks and crazy things in their hair. Sometimes their socks don't even match! I guess it is 'in' now, but it irritates my OCD (Obsessively Color-coordinated Desperate-mom) tendencies. I organize my closet in rainbow order. (Don't judge me!) The last Friday of every month is Dress-Down Day. My girls looked forward to that day the same way I looked forward to the first day of school. (UNHOLY GLEE)

Their outfits warranted serious discussion and planning. Hairstyles were discarded. Clothes were hanging half out of their dresser drawers. (Yes, it makes me nervous for the teenage years!) Sometimes they are so grown up. Every once in a while it smacks me in the face. Adelyn is seven now. I only have eleven more years with my baby before college. Paige has thirteen years at home. Charlotte has fifteen. In the blink of an eye they will be moving out. I alternate between looking forward to that time and wishing I had a way to slow time down.

I love my kids, but I have to admit there are days when I wish I had a Mute button. I wish I had an Easy button too. (I would have carpal tunnel from pushing that button.) I am sure that some day I will be wishing I could tell them to stop pulling each others hair. (Although, sometimes my mother still yells that at my sisters and me....) You have to have the noise to be able to truly enjoy the silence. I just have to get through fifteen more years. And yet.... I only have fifteen more years.