Today was Taryn and John’s first day as sophomores.

I did not stay up until their bedtime (10:30) to make sure they went to sleep on time.

I did not double-check their alarms to make sure they had set them correctly.

I did not get up early and make them a special breakfast.

I did not take a picture of them before they left for school this morning.

I did not leave cute notes in their backpacks.

I did not change out of my pajamas to drive them to school.

I did not cry when they got out of the car.

There’s a good chance I might be over this whole parenting thing. I spent most of the day thinking about how Taryn and John only have three years left of school. Three years until they move out. It didn’t make me sad at all. Not even a little.

You know what does make me sad? Looking at Reese and Jackson, who will begin kindergarten next week, knowing I still have 13 years left on my sentence. Seriously. Thirteen more years of open houses. Thirteen more years of ridiculous school supply lists. (12 glues sticks? Are they eating them?) Thirteen more years of arguments about over-priced backpacks and shoes.  Thirteen more years of conferences with teachers who, more often than not, are younger than I am. Thirteen more years of automated phone calls that always come twice because the system doesn’t understand the concept of twins.

By the time Reese and Jackson are sophomores they’ll probably have to raise themselves.

 

 

The kids are my main source of entertainment. I know that sounds lame, but for real, you can’t make up some of the stuff they say.

Case in point:

Yesterday we took the stupid dog to the dog park. On the way out another dog tried to get in our car. Not a big deal. The owner and I chatted about dogs while the twinkies got in their car seats. (Big milestone: They can snap themselves into the seats all by themselves. This makes my life about 25% more bearable.) When I got in the car Jackson and I had the following conversation.

“Mommy where does she live?”

“I don’t know.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t know her, I just talked to her for a minute.”

“Well, we can follow her and then we will know where she lives.”

*I’ll let you know if he exhibits any other weird, stalker behaviors.

The twins have been on an Alaska train adventure with their grandparents. The twinkies miss them a lot. (I do too, but they hate it when I say that out loud) This afternoon I had this conversation with both Reese and Jackson.

“Mommy when will Sissy and John be home?”

“They come back tonight.”

“How many more sleeps?”

“None.”

“One?”

“No, none.”

“Nine?”

“No, none.”

“TEN? Jackson! Ten more sleeps until Sissy and John come home!”

“No, not ten, none. NONE. No more sleeps”

“Eleven?”

That’s when I decided to just have beer for dinner.

Later in the evening after the twins and the grandparents were home we chatted about their trip. To say that my Dad is frugal about certain things is a gross understatement. When I was a kid we got charged for waste if we left food on our plate or left a light on.

I’m not making that up.

Anyway, I asked Taryn if she had spent all of her babysitting money on the trip. This is the conversation that followed.

“No, Mom (rolling eyes) I still have plenty left. I can tell you exactly what I bought.”

“Oh, yeah Bridget she bought these really fancy candies with gold wrappers, I couldn’t believe it!”

“They were chocolate coins and they were fifty cents Grandpa.”

I love that kid.