Who Misses High School??

Never fear, just become a Mommy, wait 5 years, and when your child starts kindergarten it'll be like you are right back in HS, walking the halls awkwardly, trying to figure out where to go, trying to get someone to talk to you, trying to figure out the mass attack of information coming at you from left and right all the while attempting to keep your palms from sweating right off. What? Just me? Seriously, this should be a contact sport.

Don't get me wrong, everything has been bustling and busy and people have been welcoming, it's just that I am incredibly afraid of everyone, or to be more precise, I'm afraid of acting weird or saying something stupid in front of everyone. Apparently, being holed up for the majority of the past 4 years in my house with kids has left me a bit of an agoraphobe, not wanting to leave the house unless necessary because now everywhere I go, I recognize people I've seen at her school.

This is not good, seeing as how most of the time I'm sans makeup, a scary sight at any rate, but when you're trying to carve a nice little niche out for yourself and your kids at the elementary school, it's probably best not to scare the rest of the moms away with a glance. Not to mention, my small-talk skills are not the greatest, especially when they sneak up on you in the grocery store as you're fighting your toddler, desperately trying to grasp hold of the last shred of dignity you've got left.

Not to mention the FOLDERS. Good Lord! Yellow folder for info, Blue for homework, Green for Poetry, Red for behavior....all come home on different days, all go back on different days, all in an effort to push me one step closer to insanity. Poor Ryan. She'll be lucky if we make it to Christmas! She was a pro yesterday, insisting I drop her off in the front of the school and let her walk in alone. I wish I could bottle the joy and excitement emanating from every pore in her body as she walked along the sidewalk through the front doors. She's having a great time, has already found a "Bestest Friend", and has already gotten in trouble for talking too much. So at least she's right on track...

Jax and I have been having fun as well, thank you very much. Except for the 2nd attempt to keep him with me while watching Ry's gymnastics, he's been a lot better. He just can't sit still, especially when there's so much going on around him. Yesterday at gymnastics, he dumped over my coke, and threw another of his trademark fits as I cleaned it up and tried to gather him, our 5 bags, and extraneous toys in an effort to make a quiet, unnoticed exit. But then I tripped on the 18 month year old that another mom had sitting in the middle of the floor, and that plan was shot to hell. Apologizing as much as I could, I still could not escape the evil, irritated glares of the mommies around us. Perhaps from now on we'll just drop Ry off, hmm?

My favorite thing with Jax right now is the fact that every time we go in the backyard, he puts on his Cowboys helmet, a habit he originally started every time he went outside to play T-ball, but which has now expanded to anytime he's in the backyard. You haven't laughed until you've seen him toddling around in that huge helmet, teetering back and forth as he climbs over things, digs in the rocks, and goes down the slide head first. It's good for what ails me.