School Daze

I just got featured on "Expressing Motherhood." Here's the link! http://expressingmotherhood.wordpress.com/2012/08/13/juliet-johnson/

First day of school happened the other day. Having three kids at weird ages gives me this juggling that I'm not quite sure I'm good at. But what I like is when the kids actually TALK to me. Nathan will talk non-stop at night when you go in to say goodnight. He especially likes when I tell him the funny things Lilly says. Today she said, "We painted owls." "What color?" "I painted the tummy owl-color. I painted the feet um, dark, yellow?" "Orange?" "Yeah. We're going to put eyes and beaks on later. I'm going to make alot of circles on the eyes." (She likes to draw eyes with like one circle, and a smaller circle inside, and a smaller circle inside that one, so the eyes look like the guy is on a bender.) Then she said "I played with - what's her name? Hatey?" "Sadie?" "Yeah, Sadie. I teached her to do hupa loops. She has glasses." Then she thinks about it. Then adds: "I think she's blind."

Nathan loves all these stories. Then he tells me aout 7th grade, and how he loves Ms. Goldsmith, his old teacher that he has again for History. And he likes his math teacher, and he likes his English teacher. With Nathan, if you can keep his attention long enough, he's a good student. So I told him, please, Nathan, pay attention. Be good. He's so busy growing and being cool and also having the softest skin ever on his back, I'm not sure he hears anything that's going on at school. But he's happy, and that's pretty good for a kid going to school in the middle of summer.

Emma and I were not really getting along, I mean I was getting along, but she was lagging behind, and I'm pretty sure making faces at me. She's 10, but she's been spending too much time watching different screens, so yesterday I actually cut her off from watching anything that wasn't alive and with a heartbeat. She was not very happy with me, but today, after one WHOLE day with no screen, she smiled at me, and she said she loved me. She played outside. She had root beer. It was a wonderful life. Then she went to BBall practice and had a great time. She is back to being 10 at its best, the 10 that is only 10, without sulking and drama. We are still learning about each other. Working with Maggie the horse has helped me understand Emma, I think. Girl horses are emotional, and they say if you're training a horse, you have to have the emotions of a sack (I said sack) of flour. Stay level and calm. It's hard, because I, too, am a girl. So it's a Karate Kid zen practice that I mostly fail every day. Girls (at least Emma) mature so quickly compared to boys - and they have more levels that are visible. Boys (at least, Nathan) maybe see everything, but shrug most of it off. Boys also enjoy shrieking.

Lilly has had two whole days of kindergarten. She's been at the school since she was about a week old, volunteering with me, so she knows it pretty well. She's like the school puppy mascot. Today she ate her lunch at snack. Then she had no lunch, so she ate her snack at lunch. (she's still working out the kinks. She's only 5.) I said, "Why did you do that?" She said, "Because I'm Silly Lilly."

Now that they're in school, my friend Tina and I are like, hmm, how to get work after 12 years off? Call old jobs and say, "hey, it's been like a really long maternity leave. But are you looking for anyone who's like really good at flipping pancakes, and helping someone's who's crying?"