I can’t believe summer is almost over; I would kill for another month! I’m crazed trying to manage the influx of school e-mails and documents while making the best efforts to get all my children’s forms to the right places on time.
Sadly, my precious little homeschool has closed up as my youngest, Shaya, will start kindergarten.
He’s so ready – I’m the sappy one who will stand outside the classroom and probably cry for the fourth time dropping off my baby for kindergarten. I wish I could bottle the five-year-old phase and use it to balance out the tween “mean” years.
This year I plan to be Uber-Organized Mom… it’s the only way to survive the back to school chaos. I just ordered my faithful family calendars and of course I could never run my household without my Weekly Tear-Away Calendar.
[Watch “Brooke Burke on how to organize a chaotic schedule]
I’m planning to paint our kitchen hallway with chalkboard paint and post our daily schedules there. My kids are getting old enough now to write their own reminders too, so it should be a fun way for all of us to stay on top of our many details. My homework boxes are ready to be organized; they are a must for every kid and any age.
This year, two of my kids start school in late August and my other girls start a week later. That helps with the transition, but I know this year’s driving duties will be rough. I’m an ambitious chauffeur, considering I have committed to carpool in addition to my own four. At this point, I figure, what the hell we might as well make it a caravan of sorts 🙂
My 11-year-old, who NEVER asks for anything, conned me into getting her a snake last month. After we made the purchase, I learned that in the next two years the little guy will grow into a 4 to 5 foot long beast. Oh, and my freezer has become home to a package of frozen pink mice in comas!!! It’s hardly kosher and so beyond disgusting.
He’s a corn snake, that’s the good news, but here’s the freaky part: last week, on my way downstairs for my morning coffee, he had a run-in with Rain in our hallway. Wishing it was a bad dream and not the worst wake up call ever, we both started screaming and Sierra was nowhere to be found!
Shaya quickly snatched him up and returned him to his cage, which by the way was still closed.
If you’ve ever read my dragon or turtle stories, you know we have a brood of animals that are Houdini-like escape artists… but this situation had to be solved and stopped immediately.
Apparently snakes are so strong that they can lift up their cage covers. The cage must be securely clamped down or the snake can escape.
I could literally have been woken up to my freakiest fear if he had continued his journey down the hall into my bed… or even worse, he could have had a run in with our two vicious cats.
Then Sierra went out of town with her dad and of course, I was left with feeding duties. I should know by now that every pet my kids bring home is one more team member for me to tend to but this one takes the cake.
Yesterday, I thawed out a frozen mouse, had to squeeze it out of its plastic package (impossibly disgusting) and plop it into his cage. Easy PETA, I had to feed my daughter’s pet.
The rest of the story I will leave to your imagination, but if this continues, I may be the one forgetting about the cage clamps and calling “Here, kitty kitty!!!!!”
On a lighter note, here is Shaya’s funny quote of the day….
“Papa, you’re going to be so proud of me…I tried a grape and I loved it!”
