Back to School

Back to school! That used to mean loads of washing and clothes to organize; new lunch boxes; haircuts for the girls; shopping for new shoes and school supplies. It meant the return of routine, bedtimes that gave way to some mommy quiet time; lunch meat; Glad sandwich bags and daycare. It meant regular bath times and braiding hair. And it usually meant a few shed tears on the first day (me doing the shedding).

Back to school these days looks a different around our house. Kidlet rounds up the boxes and cr@p really important stuff that she didn't unpack when she moved home after first year; we strip the cupboard of pasta and random canned goods; we shop for bedding that will compliment her purple room; and I keep my fingers crossed that her beloved hockey bag will miss her enough to follow Kidlet to school.

Kidlet and I spent the day meandering around her university town. I tripped along behind as she made the rounds to the bookstore, the registrar's office and the bank. I discreetly peered from behind clothing racks as she dropped off resumes and took impromptu interviews. The best part was the sneak peek I got of her student housing apartment which was more than a little upscale from the student pads of my era. There were no holes in the wall, no critters popping out of cutlery drawers, and all of the cupboard doors were on their hinges. Her mattress is not propped up on bricks, there were no empty wine bottles draped in candle wax (not yet anyway) and there was actually a suite of cleaning products on the counter. I think once Kidlet and her roomies figure out how to get those nasty stains out of the toilet and how to get the carbon monoxide detectors to stop beeping, they will be in for some good times.

This time of year  I always get in a back to school frame of mind. I am looking forward to the change that the fall brings. I will miss the quiet that befalls the house when Fritz has no one to bark at; and the pile of shoes Birkenstocks at the door that are so fun to trip over not to mention the collection of hockey sticks that attack me when I pull the vacuum cleaner out of the closet. And I take comfort knowing that whatever changes occur when Kidlet leaves for school -- they are temporary. She'll be home again before I know it.