Tomorrow is the Big Day

School starts tomorrow. The kids said they weren't ready, they didn't want to go, they wish it wouldn't start until next year.

Far cry from last year this time. We homeschooled, but last year I came to my senses (haha) and ditched them in public school. Actually my daughter had been asking to go for quite a while and I wasn't ready to let go. She's my firstborn after all. And my right-hand helper with the Baby. (You know, the 4-year-old with T21.) According to the kids, I was the worst teacher ever in the history of the world, and I had the nerve to ask them to repeat a lesson if they hadn't mastered it yet. And then repeat it again because repition is a good thing when you're learning.

I mean, their friends had it good. They got to socialize all day with peers, and didn't have to help with housework. They never had to babysit their little brother. They weren't expected to make lunch on a regular basis either. School was the place to be. The threat of more hours of homework than they actually spent schooling didn't even faze them.

This year they're a bit more educated. I am, too. I've learned that free time isn't just a fairy tale. I could read the paper while eating breakfast! Who knew? (I also realized that this took way more time than I ever thought it could.) I learned that I had time to sew, and opened The Rocking Pony. I learned that I had time to ride the horses standing in the barn, and train the dogs for show.

But I'm not the worst mom in the world. I've rearranged a few things to have tomorrow completely free so that I can bake cookies while the kids are in school. Yummy, sugar cookies even. Because shapes taste better - it's the extra love you put into them. And I'll walk them up the drive to meet the bus, then be there to meet them at the end of the day, too.

Tuesday they're on their own, though. They can probably even have cookies for breakfast because I can't completely blow my bad mom image.