back to school/back to work

it's been all-back-to-school all-the-time around here. trixie had her first day the tuesday after labor day, and julie should have started that thursday, but instead we all made a whirlwind trip to indiana for julie's uncle's funeral. so julie really started with her kids the following monday, when micah also started school for the very first time. that's going pretty exceptionally well, despite a fair amount of anxiety on my part that the separation was not going to be pretty. as it turns out we are both soooo ready. micah's teachers keep asking me "and how are *you* doing?" and i try my best to keep the glee out of my voice as i give some vague, non-committal response and then skip merrily to the car for three whole free hours! four times a week! bliss on a plate.

of course everyone keeps asking me, "so, now that micah's in pre-school, are you going back to work?" rather than laughing in their faces, though, or getting all sarcastic ("no, i'm just planning to catch up on my soaps, and enjoy some well-deserved bon bons, actually), i've decided to just say to people "i work part time from home." the funny thing is that if i got paid for what i do, no one would question whether i am "working," but because for the past few years i have done my work for no pay and with a small child in tow, it is apparently not really "work." (julie says i have a chip on my shoulder about this, by the way, but you know what they say: it's not paranoia if they're really out to get you! ;-)

so anyway, today was the "first day of school" at church, and as i'm the church school superintendent, that's a big day to get ready for. it all went well, but i'm pretty wiped out. yesterday was a big founders' day and middle school dedication at trixie's school, and as i'm the president of the board of trustees, that was a pretty big day too (i introduced paul vallas, the ceo of the phila schools, and michael nutter, hopefully the next mayor of philadelphia, and the architect of our recently passed smoking ban in public places; i was way impressed with him, and am planning to volunteer on his campaign).

none of this is new work -- i've been doing both for a couple of years -- but it's like a revelation to have time to do it during the week without micah (as well as the many other kids i used to take care of -- i'm not doing that any more either (woo hoo!!)). i knew it was time to send micah to school when i had conversations with him that went like this:

"micah, why don't you put on a video while i do some work on the computer?"

"i don't want to watch a video."

"how about you turn on pbs kids?

"i don't want to watch pbs kids."

"sure you do," i would say, as i turned it on.

"I DON'T WANT TO WATCH P. B. S. KIDS!" he would scream as he turned it off.

"MICAH! YOU. WILL. WATCH. PBS KIDS! i HAVE to get this work done."

"NOOOOO," he would scream, and melt into a puddle of tears, and climb in my lap for a nursie.

so yeah, i'm just a little bit happy that those days are over.

*happy dance*