first day of school 2011-12

Away we go on grades 7, 6 and 3.

Ever since my daughter's kindergarten year when she started crying in the lunchroom because it was too loud, I've taken the first day of school off of work.

It's always a mix of me doing the happy mom dance:

"Any cleaning I do will stay that way for more than 15 minutes."

And the melancholy mom: "Where did the summer (last 12 years, etc.) 

go and why do they have to get so big so fast?"

In fact, when my 8-year-old suggested that I find another mom to talk to when we got to his school, 

I realized that my kids can do most of this stuff on their own.

Walking to school, to the bus, finding their friends, classes and meeting teachers, yep, 

they can do that part on their own. 

I'm not whining about how my kids don't need me. They do. Seriously, who else would knock herself out to make sure ALL the laundry in the house was done before school started. 

(I'm sure my 8-year-old is very concerned about the mophead being clean, right?)

My kids need me and my husband for the more difficult stuff: Limits on phone, Internet, television and video games, who they can hang out with, what classes they should take (remember they're in middle school), what time to go to bed, driving to practice, and much more.

Let's face it, the days of diapers and naps are long gone, as are the reading me a story at night

(though they all still appreciate that). 

Our job as parents gets tougher by the day.

It's not about waking for a 2 a.m. feeding. 

It's about staying awake until 2 a.m. wondering if the schedule of classes will be right.

It's not about how early they wake up.

It's about waking them up early enough to make the bus.

It's not about feeding them 12 times a day.

It's about helping them make good decisions about friends, food and fun.

There aren't three kids with whom I'd rather ride this roller coaster

but given the choice, I'd rather change diapers.