Aye Carumba

So the angels have been out of school for FIVE, count 'em, FIVE days. And while I am doing my best Ricardo Montalban impersonation out in public (Smiles, everyone, SMILES!!!), truth is I am kind of going apeshit.

I forget, every single year, that there is a slight transition period between school/summer. It lasts about a week, and it is brutal.

For about the first 59 or so hours it's awesome. Everyone has sleepovers that first weekend, the kids can stay up late on Sunday night, we all actually slept until 10:00 that first Monday. Then, like lava oozing down from the mouth of a volcano, the realization that we are all together without that blissful 8 hour school break for three whole months dawns on us.

And that's when the smackdowns start.

Yeah, yeah, I know just a month or so ago I sat in this very same chair, chin all aquiver, blubbering about my sad quiet house. Yeah. I get over that one real quick every June. I get over that about the second or third time some projectile whizzes by my ear. My kids are throwers. They are also picky pickertons, who have mastered the tricky art of finding the weak spot in their sibling's armor. The combination of their sheer volume and the wince-inducing cruelty that they bestow upon each other makes me want to push various sharp objects into my eyeballs.

Parenting is a funny thing. It's truly a testament to the fact that yes, the grass is always greener on some other side. When they're little, you wish that they were older so they could master their own playdates, get their own glass of water or ride a bike around the block by themselves. And then when they get older you find yourself longing for the days when an entire summer afternoon could be spent with a picnic lunch and meeting friends at the little kid parks.

Nap time was a fleeting concept for my little ones, but holy hell do I miss it.

This is the one time of the year that seeing them drive off in Big Daddy's car doesn't feel so bad. If life was a fair game, he would take them for an entire day or two during the week. It would be interesting to see how much work he got done whilst wearing the court Jester hat and playing chauffeur and ATM to our children. But I'll take what I can get.

Next week their classes and activities will start, and we will get settled into our new summer routine. This annual tour through CrazyWorld is always tough, but always brief.

Smiles, everyone.....smiles!