School's Out Forever

My moments of writing in my head have obviously not equalled my moments of actual writing. To start, I am an official "stay at home mom." My request for a second year of leave was denied making an inevitable decision come sooner than later. I attended the annual End of Year Luau with the babies and the after graduation celebration without them looking for a sense of closure. I think I found it while cleaning out my classroom-which had really already been cleaned out by my replacement. I have moments when I miss the structure, camaraderie and mindfulness of teaching (especially when reminded anonymously that I have not written in 44 days, thank you very much) but for the most part, I am relieved. My baby mayhem moments can be dramatic but most of my days are filled with a sense of peace.

I could have used a reminder of that inner calm this week when faced with monster mayhem during our forays at the beach. Charlie's teething was crazy- and my usually sweet, happy boy was a non-sleeping, clingy, crying mess. Finally, after a four hour afternoon nap at the close of our travels, Charlie was his old self again. I stressed to him how much he was missed and I think he will try to keep that teething thing in check for our next trip. Even with the fussiness we managed to have a day on the beach and our first ride on a carousel.

We had our three month early intervention evaluation in June which included a cognitive evaluation. Nori and Charlie did well and so far our fears of delays have been put at bay. Charlie still sees a physical therapist once a month (down from once a week) but it may not be needed much longer. We are on the verge of walking and any attempts we make to baby proof are circumvented by our very clever children. I guess I really didn't need a cognitive evaluation done after all!

Our summer days have been pretty full-playdates, a trip to the Point Pleasant Aquarium, the Monmouth Racetrack, the local beaches-and I do not see us slowing down. I may not be making lesson plans for High School English anymore, but I still cannot help but to make plans.