The Alarm

Today I heard.......my alarm go off. It was the signal that summer was over and the school year was beginning for one of my offspring. The other one starts tomorrow. It is so surreal as it seems only a few days ago, I turned off my alarm for summer to begin. Now it is over. Maybe it has been the really strange weather we have had this summer or all the projects, but it feels like summer really never kicked in.

I know there are many parents that count the seconds until school starts in the fall. They can't wait to have the house back and some form of order restored to their day, even if only for a few hours. I however have never been one of them. On the contrary, I thoroughly enjoy my kids. I love the laid back summer time where schedules for the most part are thrown out the window (my basement is proof of this) and we just relax. I like the noise, the commotion and the constant activity that is in the house when they are here. Sadly we didn't actually get to do all the things I had hoped to this summer but we did laugh a lot, work a little and have a lot of fun together. There were a lot of cherished moments and wonderful memories made.

Now as I prepare to put David on the bus and spend the day in a last ditch effort trying to get all the finishing touches on the school year, I admit that I am a little sad. Maybe even more than a little. There will be no more leisurely breakfasts and no more hearing at least two tv's going throughout the house. There will be no more hearing Z singing from dusk til dawn and no more midweek movie marathon days. My days will be without David following me throughout the house asking me "Where'd ya go?" and without Z's amazing lunchtime salads. I know the dogs feel it too as they seem to be just a little uneasy knowing change is upon them. I guess it is upon us all.

David will be starting 6th grade this year and Z will be starting his senior year. It is all going by so incredibly fast and there is simply nothing to do but hold on for dear life, grab every special moment I can and hope that through it all, I have managed to get it right at least part of the time. I guess that is what most parents do.

Yes, today I heard.....the alarm go off. Not just any alarm but the alarm that said summer is at end. Next stop is school, fall and a downhill slide to the holidays. I know that for the next nine months I will hear that alarm many times over but I think it is safe to say, that none will make me feel quite the way that the sound of that alarm made me feel today.