Apologies.

I am sorry for my loooong break in between posts, but my days have been filled to the brim with birthdays and parties and Build A Bear and emails and new house stuff and doctor appointments and crying newly minted 5 year olds who don't want shots and cupcake baking and speech evals and almost 8 month olds who don't nap for very long AT ALL and laundry and school work supervision and soccer practice and feeding my growing family members. And my backups, my parents, have been gone for a week, leaving me on my own.

I was thinking the other day about the afterschool period between dismissal at 2:19pm and 3pm. You know, the "staying after" part of school, where you could get extra help, serve detention, socialize, use the library, or get a head start on your homework. I stayed after almost every day, mostly to get things done and finish up loose ends of the day. And I really loved that part: the school was more relaxed, almost hushed, and you had a taste of independence and self-direction away from the structure of the day. (Who would love the part of school when you had to stay longer than you needed to? Why, the 1992 BCHS Student of the Year, that's who. Yes, it's with a mixed bag of great dork pride and embarrassment that I was chosen as the 1992 BCHS Student of the Year. I find myself clinging to this title a little more as I get older, as a sign that I really did do something well and got recognized for it. Because no one's handing out Best Mom of Three Awards where I hang out now...nor do I think I would get it anyway.)

And I realized that's exactly what I need right now: a staying after period to wrap up the loose ends of the day. Because for the last few weeks, I have put the kids to bed and just collapsed, spent and exhausted and barely even able to stay awake to watch the three or four shows I attempt to stay current with. It's quite pathetic, actually. But if I had an afterschool time: ahhh. I could get a few things done uninterrupted, wrap up some loose ends, make phone calls that I don't have to explain the noise or voices in the background saying "Mom! MOM!!".

So if anyone can figure out a way to make this work, let me know.
I'd give you a Best Friend to Moms Everywhere Award.