A Lovely Day

Thomas and I had a lovely day today. Instead of working on school plans, cleaning the school room, paying bills, doing laundry, cleaning house, etc., we hopped in the car and headed toward civilization.

Mankato, Minnesota was our destination. It's over an hour from where we live, but it's the closest town that has any big chain stores. Well, we have Walmart and Kmart and a few fast food chains, but it has a mall, a BOOKSTORE, an Office Max, Sam's Club...cool stores.

Today's mission was to find The Sims2 Apartment Life for Thomas. We could have got it here, but it was much more fun to go there. We left this morning. We went to the mall and walked it a few times. Ahhh, Frankie needed to get off her lazy you-know-what and exercise a little. Then we hit all the fun stores: Yankee Candles, where I made a small purchase, the Game Stop where Thomas was sorely disappointed that what he was seeking didn't come out until tomorrow. And of course we hit the bookstore.

We went to the great pet store and bought our good dog food and two containers to store the food in. Pesky little border collies are too smart for Rubbermaid containers. We bought two containers that latch and they won't be able to open. Ahem, hopefully. The dogs like to snack on the cat food, so hopefully we'll alleviate that!

We went to Sally Beauty Supply just because Bob wasn't with us and I could. lol Bob will buy monthly female products at the grocery store without batting an eye, but he won't go to Sally Beauty Supply. Go figure.

We stopped off at a Baker's Square for a mid-afternoon snack. We had never gone there before, and we indulged in cheesecake and a cinnamon roll. Mmmmm.

All the while, we talked and talked like we hadn't seen each other in a long time. We laughed, we joked, and we thoroughly enjoyed each other's company.

It was a special day. We left the sadness and grieving behind. We lived in the moment and loved each other's company.

I was only slightly annoyed at our final stop on the way out of town: Best Buy. The greeter at the door was a retired gentleman. He touched my arm and asked, "When does school start?" I smiled and said Tuesday. He said, "Oh, Mom, I bet you're glad!" This is where Frankie got a little ornery. I smiled and said, "Oh, yes, we're very excited to start school again. We homeschool. My son is a very good kid and I really enjoy being in his company."

The man literally took a step back. He smiled, said that was great, and then turned and walked away.

Why do people assume that moms are tired of being with their kids at the end of summer? Even when Thomas WAS in public school, I hated the start of school. I hated it! I will never get that.

Mom 101: Love your child each and every moment, because they grow too damned fast. They'll be on their own in the blink of an eye. So don't get annoyed by them being with you, embrace it. If they're climbing the walls, be a parent and do something with them, guide them, love them.

There, off my soap box.

So yes, we are excited for school to start this year. Even Thomas confessed today he's ready to go, albeit a little nervous. He knows the work will be more difficult this year. But we're excited because we homeschool.