When will sanity return?

As I read the superintendent’s email about the possible delay of the school year for Shrewsbury, I cringed. These kids need distraction, homework, piano lessons, tennis—anything to put an end to this “quality time” misery. In other words, my kids need a reason to fall into bed with exhaustion besides a summertime sleep over. If I listen to one more episode of Phineas and Ferb while washing dishes or break up another tussle over and Xbox game I’m going to lose it!

And so, it is with no regret that I take back what I said a few weeks ago here in blog land. Back then, I was lamenting the fast pace of August and the eventual day when I’d have to put my cherubs on the bus and return to my own classroom. Okay, those sentiments are long gone. If we don’t go back to school soon, someone’s going to get hurt. And I mean, hurt!

We’ve reduced ourselves to simply saying each other’s names when we’re annoyed. Loudly.

“Mom!”

“Ethan!”

“Max!”

“Stefan!”

We can’t even articulate the reasons for our boiling rage at one another. We spit out the name of the offender and huff off. There are lots of tears, yelling, and storming to our bedrooms—either by choice or by sentencing.

I suspect, underneath, we’re simply feeling the angst of a new school year—new teachers, new students, new faces and new routines. But like any solid dysfunctional family, we take it out on each other.

Luckily, we have a hurricane coming and the possibility of no electronics to keep us busy and distracted. We may even have to talk to each other or play a board game (or as a friend put it a “bored” game). If it takes a major storm to set this ship right, so be it. But, please, Dr. Sawyer, let Tuesday be the start of the school year—I beg you!