Week 4

Mac calls home from the school office during lunch recess. He hurt his cheek. He wants me to pick him up. The office lady assures me he is fine and I convince him to stay the last 2 hours.

8:30 pm. He should be sound asleep. He is hysterically in tears. “I had a hard day at school today,” he cries, “and I don’t like being at school for so long. I don’t get to see you too often,” he wails.

He has suffered the following assaults today: he banged into a pole in the playground and smacked his cheek, one of the French girls stepped on his foot, and the librarian elbowed him in the head, “but she said she was sorry.” Oh, and his new glasses are broken.

I look at him tonight in bed and see such a very little boy. Who in their right mind sends a child this small away for the whole day? Who? I ask! Who?! It’s insane, is what it is!

“I have one foot out the door already,” I tell Mrs. K. She is nearing the end of her pregnancy and will be leaving soon. “Race you!” I say, only half joking.

While Mac is at school I spend the day playing with Sailor. Literally. We drawk (former Mac-speak for “draw with chalk”), blow bubbles, play tag (really! Mommy running! in sandals), learn about funnels, and play a car game in the playroom. I realizedjust how much harder it would be to be single mom to one child than two. And I also remember what it was like when I had just Mac and had time to spend with him. No business to run, no PTA newsletter to get out, no little brother to distract him with StarWars play, no… crazy life. It was a joy to spend my day playing with my child.

Sailor started tap class this afternoon. He loves it. Mac makes the official decision to drop out of TaiKwonDo. “I thought about it while I was sitting on the bench after I hurt my cheek,” he tells me, “and I decided I am just absolutely not doing it.” Alrighty then.

Welcome to another Monday in Hell – I mean 1st grade.

And now it’s Friday. I hate school so much I don’t even want to write about it.

The best part of the week was when Sailor asked for a gumball for lunch and when I tell him I don’t know where to get one he tells me, “the Laundromat,” remembering the gumball I let him have last week when we were washing our comforters.

Have to go write checks to the school…picture day, I chose the $17 package; and the classroom wants $20 for upcoming events, but I told the room mother we should just call it even since I just paid $23 to replace Mac's stolen lunchbox! I can't wait to see what she says!