Twas the Night Before...

Twas the night before school starts, when all through the house…

A teenage girl is stressed about what she was going to wear.  She insisted her mother be part of the process of selecting, because she “respects her opinion and sense of style so much” but poo-pooed all of the mother's  suggestions, so clearly she lied.

A mom is trying to finish redoing the children's bathroom so they can use it and failing miserably because she can’t get the wallpaper to line up and she keeps getting it all tangled up and now she’s out of it entirely. No one is happy about this because it means WALKING ALL THE WAY DOWNSTAIRS (gasp!) to shower.

Kids are asking the mom for snacks and other ridiculous questions while she is struggling with the wallpaper and the dad naps on the sofa downstairs.

A mom realized her 6^th grader’s backpack hadn’t been cleaned out since the last day of 5^th grade.  When glue sticks sit partially open all summer in the bottom of a backpack filled with assorted pens, pencils, paper clips, playing cards, post-it-notes and dirt, it becomes sticky dirt colored damp (??) goo that you have to scrape with your fingernails off of the fabric. 

The high schooler can’t find his lunch box.  This after his lunch box was replaced last year, twice, and after the purchase of an additional lunch box for him to use for work this summer.  Both disappeared.  Guess what else disappeared?  His brother’s lunch box.  Because high schooler “borrowed” that and lost it too.  Land of Nod kindergarten lunch boxes are unearthed for both boys to use.  The high schooler could care less.  The newly minted middle schooler is less than thrilled about having to use a lunchbox covered in puppies. 

The mom is yelling at everyone about lunch boxes and backpacks and school supplies and getting everything ready because do you realize how early you have to wake up, and for pete’s sake would you puh-lease just go to bed, because everyone is wound up and chaos reigns.  You know how toddlers get wound up and hyper before they go to bed?  That never goes away.

They are saying good night to the dog for the 50 eleventh time because apparently they will never see her again. 

After all the chaos, the dad is pouring both the mom and the dad a stiff drink which they can enjoy if and when they can ever get everyone in bed. 

The mom is remembering that, no matter how conflicted she is about them going back to school year after year, this day before school leaves no doubt in her mind that she is, indeed, ready.

Plans are being made for Friday and the mom’s first day of being “unsupervised” in her own home since mid-June.  Friday is a beacon of light guiding her through this crazy week.  

Must…hold…on…until…Friday….