Today for the first time it actually feels like Fall. (I've also lived in this
region long enough to realize this is only a temporary teaser, and we surely
have more hot and humid days ahead before we slide into the true Autumn season. But I'll take it
anyway!) In fact, when we all climbed out from beneath the covers this morning
(yes, blankets!) the
thermometer only registered 55 chilly degrees, prompting my warm-blooded
children to resort to sweatshirts for the bus-stop walk. (I know: gasp! These are the same boys
who try to get away with wearing shorts until Christmas, so this counted as
quite a noteworthy Fashion Event in our house.) The nippy air instantly put me
in the mood for pumpkins...perched
on our porch, baked into muffins, stirred into lattes, infused into
ales...mmmmm. It also prompted me to reflect on our "unofficial Fall",
which of course kicks off with the school year, rather than when the calendar
indicates the Equinox.
Let's start with Derek, my 7th-grader, whose gargantuan feet now
measure about two sizes beyond mind, and who can look me directly in the eyes
when standing nose-to-nose. (He does this on purpose, too, inching right up to
me until I shove him away with the threat "Remember, I can still send you
to your room!") Even more...interesting? Disturbing?
Freaking-Mom-the-heck-out? is the fact that people have begun to mention that
the pitch of his voice sounds lower. In fact, at his soccer game on Saturday a
fellow parent who has known him for years glanced at him out on the field and
commented, "Wow, Derek looks like a man these days, not a boy any
more!" (Part of me agreed and thought "Yeah, pretty cool!" The
other part went: "But that's my baby!
Waaaahhhh!") Later in the game, this other mom also watched Derek
dribbling smoothly down the field, controlling the ball gracefully, almost gliding across the grass, and turned to
me to marvel, "It amazes me that he never went through an 'awkward phase'!" (Me: Hahahahahahahaha!)
I had to regale her with real-life stories of our admittedly strong, fluid
athlete...who routinely trips up the
stairs...bangs his elbows into
doorways...tumbles over furniture...
Thus the background noise at home often includes: BAM. "Ow!" [pause, chuckle] "I'm
okay!" [Followed by an explanation of what exactly he ran into/knocked
over/fell on. He may be bruised, but his sense of humor and unselfconsciousness
blessedly remain intact.] So it would seem he saves his most impressive
physical feats to display in grassy areas with spectators--and gets all of his
klutzy moments out of his system with his family. But even with all of this
rapid growing and maturing and whatnot, this year he’s still been asking me for
help with his homework. (LOVE that!) Especially since he's started taking Espanol,
he'll inform me that "we need to have a conversation after dinner."
This normally consists of something along these lines: "Hola."
("Hola") "Como estas?" ("Muy bien, y tu?")
"Okay, that's all I've studied so far!"
Then there's Riley, tackling 4th-grade. Ever a study in contrasts,
he reads Young Adult level
books...while holding a stuffed frog
for security and companionship. Just when I think my Boo Boo's moving forward
on his own, I get a confession like "I almost cried in school today."
My first reaction--"What? You're 9, dude, get a grip!"--was decidedly
unhelpful and unsympathetic, so fortunately I stifled it and instead allowed
him to share more of his thoughts on the subject. Being Riley, he naturally had
a logical explanation, "It's because I was with you so much this Summer,
and now I miss you while I'm in class all day." Awwww! Of course I
reminded him that we all have our "jobs" and we'll be together in a
few short hours, blah blah blah. (Oh, and also if you did stay home with Mom, you'd find out very quickly that it's not
all snacks and television and games...more like Target and Giant and
laundry...trust me, school is much more fun...hey, maybe I should come hang out in your
life!) Then we reinstated our successful solution from last year, whereby he
carries a small token in his pocket to remind him of home. After considering
several options, he chose a keychain he bought on our vacation, "to
remember the good times we had in Mexico." So far he reports that it's
working, so we'll keep our fingers crossed that more drastic measures are not
required (I don't even know what those would be--Mom visitations in the middle of the day? Home schooling? Heaven forbid! A nice souvenir should do the
trick...) But then…he totally surprised us by pushing for his very first
sleepover with one of his best friends from school...at his friend's
house...all night...without Mom and Dad...suffice it to say we were braced for
a late phone call of either reassurance or "come get me I've had
enough". We waited, but it didn’t happen. He was apparently happy as a
clam to hang out with some other family for the night. When I asked him the
next day if he'd missed us he shrugged and said, "not really."
Progress! Baby steps! Maybe by next Summer he'll be ready for sleepaway camp
after all...
So that's the early-September scoop. Soccer, school,
sleepovers--what other s-words can we fit in this month? For right now, with
the nice cool temperature and earlier nightfall, it's going to be: sleep
(zzzzzzz)!
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