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It started out as any other first day of school...  nothing much out of the ordinary... My 4th and 6th grader get up at 6:30am and do their morning routine as if on auto-pilot:  eat breakfast, put on school uniforms, brush hair, brush teeth, make bed, make lunch, empty the dishwasher, put on shoes...  Up until that point, everything was flowing quite well.  I sit down for breakfast -- "Mom, we're out of milk."  What?!  Why didn't anyone tell me we were down to the last sip BEFORE the first day of school.  I loathe black coffee.  Sorry, Honey, we're out of half and half, too.  Oh, no, this is not good.  7:40am, buckle baby and preschooler into car seat, load backpacks and lunches and requested school supplies, older kids buckle in and we're off.  

Maybe it's my ambitious nature to want to be involved in all things, but it didn't all go as smoothly after that, either.  Nic told me there would be a morning assembly meeting.  OK, I thought, I can miss that since it gets pretty loud for the baby.  I'll just come back for the back to school coffee at 9:30am.  I meet the new teachers, kiss everyone goodbye and wish them a great day.  Say hello to a few parents and head back home to have breakfast.  The little ones were too hungry to first go to BelAir, so we drove the 3 miles home and ate frozen waffles and oatmeal.  Sorry, we just ran out of orange juice, too.  How about some of that yucky tasting Vitamin Water?  I fed the baby and buckled the 2 little ones back into the car.

We were about 10 minutes late to the back to school coffee.  I poured some black liquid into the styro cup and watched the mom in front of me pour the last drop of French Vanilla Coffeemate into her cup.  Wahhhhhhhhhhh.  I'm feeling whiny at this point, but don't let it show.  It's OK, I tell her, I'll just use a couple drops (literally!)  The mom I came to get to know better was just leaving and my other friend wasn't there at all.  I made some small talk while Greta fed some blueberry muffin to John Michael and then started crumbling it up because it's fun to play with, I guess. 

One mom says, "See you back at noon."  What?!?!?  I thought they were in until 3:00!  Turning 40 and having 4 children is seriously making a dent in my cranial mush.  I decide that it's my only chance to get to BelAir for some much needed groceries, but I'd have to do it in overdrive.  Greta doesn't want to leave -- she's mad because she doesn't want to leave her friend that she just spotted up the hill.  John Michael just goes along for the ride.  Thank God he's relaxed about it all.

I make it through BelAir, get home at 11:15am and unpack the cold items as frantically as possible.  Gotta go fast!  I realize I'm really NOT Superwoman and it's OK if the cereal, for which there was no milk, are still on the table.  Greta wants to watch a show while I nurse the baby.  He drifts off after 8 minutes or so.  I lay him down so I can finish putting groceries away.  Oops, it's 11:55am.  Time to go, don't want to be late!  But Greta wants to finish her show, it's almost over...  Sorry, off!  Baby is sleeping so soundly, I hate to pick him up and strap him into his carseat once more.  Sorry, rush rush rush!  

Back in the car I call my husband to chat.  I just need someone to sound off to.  This wasn't at all what I'd planned for my first day of 1/2 freedom.  Oh, well.  There isn't much I can do about it, so I'll just take a deep breath and move onto the next thing.  Eventually it'll all get done.  I'm happy to see the older kids.  I'm surrounded by my favorite people and life is good.  It wasn't ordinary at all, but maybe that's OK.  Sometimes it's the extraordinary that makes life worth living.  Happy back to school.