Dear Kitty,

By The Mind Filled on August 3, 2012 • ( 0 )

Dear Kitty,

I received some of the most depressing news ever last night as a mother. Not quite as bad as the warning on cookie dough that to eat raw cookie dough was endangering my health, but pretty depressing. (In regards to cookie dough…I’m willing to live on the edge and accept life is too short not to take some risks)

The news began as a little rumor which immediately spawned an uncontrollable twitch in my left eye. Then…it was verified and I went into full malfunctioning talking doll mode. You know how a talking doll starts sputtering words non-stop when it gets dunked in the bathtub after children have been warned repeatedly not to get the doll wet or it will mess up? Yes…like that.

School starting has been postponed due to a budget issue.

I stalked grumbling into the kitchen and saw the container of molding clay. We have the clay to give to the kids who are angry to help them work through their anger and keep their hands busy doing something productive. At this point I had enough anger to sculpt an exact replica of “David” by Michelangelo.

All my dreams of a spa day on Monday were gone.

OK, who am I kidding…there was no spa day planned. Out of the 7 kids in the house, I will still have 2 at home who are too little for school. My real plan involved getting to sit on the couch for 30 minutes (while folding laundry that resembles the size of Mt. Everest. I’ll probably need oxygen too if I make it to the top) and maybe, just maybe, getting to shave both legs. (This is a luxury far greater these days than being able to lounge in some kind of spa chair with cucumbers stuck to my face. Heck, I can sit on my couch and have any number of food particles stuck to me for free.)

Seriously I need the Commissioners and the Board Of Education to work for me. I needed school to start like I need cookie dough. It’s for my sanity, just like cookie dough is.

I’ve been doing a lot of grumbling like that malfunctioning doll. I love the kids and I love being able to be with them 24-7-365. I love 50,000,000 questions a day per child. I love being asked every 20 minutes when snack is. I love cooking meals, then watching little noses turn up and request cereal instead. I love the endless hours that need to be filled with constant energy spenders and stimulation.

Yet, they were so looking forward to starting school on Monday. To making friends, to time on the playground, to learning new stuff…to getting away from the parent that holds down the fort through the dog days of summer.

I’m sure once they DO start school, I will be grumbling then about the amount of homework, fundraisers or any other school related activity where I have to glue pom-poms and pipe cleaners on a poster board for 4 kids in one night who forgot to tell me that their science project is due the next day.

…and frankly…grumbling is my business and business is good.