Back To School

The new school year starts today!  And my mind is overflowing with grand plans to be better, calmer and more organized.

Remember the start of the school year, that blank slate that promised possibility and offered greatness to anyone willing to work hard?  Remember the thrill of blank notebooks and clean pencils?  Remember the "This year, I'm going to really _____________!" declarations?

That's what it was like for me when I was a kid.  Each new school year thrilled me and made me dream of how awesome my life was going to be, both with friends and in the classroom.

A few decades later, and the classroom is my living room, the idealism is gone, and I don't have any new culottes in Fall colors to sport on the first day.

But the dreams are still there, and today, my dream is this:  I have a dream that one day, my children will do my biding and figure out that I am right about everything, and that if they only listen to me, read great books, and clean up when I ask them to, they will soar up and over the stars and become great people.

Today is all about turning the tide people.  Not rounding the turn, certainly, but beginning the long crank on the wheel that will begin to change the direction of this ship.  Turning the tide away from electronics.  Turning the tide away from the damn TV.  Turning the tide away from bickering and sniping.  Turning the tide away from impatient mothers and rude children.

And so, I need to keep one thing in mind:  Be patient.  Be clear.  Be kind.  Be hopeful.   I guess that's four things, but they are all intertwined together, and can be summed up as this:  Be the mom you want to be.

I think I can do it.  After all, I got 7 hours of sleep last night, a personal best over the last several weeks.  I have Peets coffee dripping through my veins.  And I have a clean notebook, and a kick ass Staedtler triplus fineliner black ink pen.  

Here goes!

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