Back-to-school prep, pandemic pets, and lots of chocolate (7 Quick Takes)

~1~

We traveled earlier in the week, and I came back to feeling completely unprepared for the school year that starts on Monday. The day before our son’s sixth-grade orientation, I called the school and introduced myself to a calm, pleasant voice on the other end.

Me: “I never turned in my son’s health forms. Is he still allowed to come?”
Voice: “Absolutely. Just send them with him on Monday.”
Me: “And I haven’t finished our back-to-school shopping. I have hardly anything.”
Voice: “You’re just fine. All he needs tomorrow is a pencil and a piece of paper.”

God bless that calming voice. Our son boarded the bus the next morning for orientation and texted me from school 15 minutes later to ask which classroom he was supposed to go to. I had no idea. I told him to find a grownup and ask—and he did.

We might be ready by Monday. Maybe. This summer was too short. It always is.

~2~

Seeing our son off for a half-day orientation was a little daunting for me. I am a mother who cries every first day of school, and this year those emotions are complicated by concerns about COVID and worries that the transition back to school after so many days of home life will be difficult. I didn’t cry, though.

And our sixth-grader had a wonderful half-day at his orientation. Now he is excited to get back to school next week. That feels like a real gift since none of us have really been wanting this school year to start.

Please God, keep our children safe.

~3~

On Saturday morning both children woke up before we did, which hasn’t happened since they were pre-schoolers. Then I discovered that our 11-year-old made himself a Nutella sandwich.

I can’t recall that ever happening before.

Now and then my children surprise me—and this is one of those times. I suddenly have a feeling that sixth grade will be a transformative time.

~4~

I was reading about people who are having trouble leaving their pandemic pets alone for the first time, including this Wall Street Journal article on dog backpacks, and I was thinking of our finches.

I’m sure they will be just fine, but I am glad we had so much time home with them during their first year in our family—especially to be here for the hatching of our baby finches.

They all get so excited, bouncing around the cages and calling out to us whenever we come home after being away for a while.

~5~

When my boys and I were visiting my sister Maureen and her four children in New York earlier this week, Maureen and I ran to the grocery store for a few things.

“We should get a cake or something for dessert,” I said. It was my niece’s last night at home before we moved her to college, so I thought it would be fun to add to the celebration. I had fairly low expectations for what that would look like.

We went to pick a sheet cake by the bakery, and we immediately saw the one we had to have—a cake in the shape of a bear’s head. Why was it there? Is there a bear-themed holiday? Are bears all the rage for August? Had someone ordered a dog cake and rejected it when it looked more like a bear? Were they horrified that his nose was smudged?

Who knows? Who cares? We slid the bear out of the refrigerated case, bought it, and carried it carefully home, where it was an enormous hit.

I’m not sure we ever settled on a name, and there was much conversation—and some delighted consternation—over the propriety in slicing into a bear. But it was the perfect cake for the moment and gave us something to laugh about during what might have been an emotional evening.

As I said to my niece as I handed it to her, “We simply can’t bear for you to leave.”

And yet we are thrilled for her, of course. A bear cake with way too much chocolate frosting just made it a little sweeter.

~6~

I almost had to go to New York without Berger cookies, which I always bring along, because I tried a few stores and couldn’t find them. The night before we left, I mentioned my dilemma to my friend and neighbor, and she ran out to buy me two boxes.

I was so touched. And the cousins were thrilled because, of course, they expect Aunt Rita to bring Berger cookies. It’s a tradition.

And yes, chocolate does seem to be a theme this week.

~7~

Friends invited us for a taco dinner and then a pool night at their house, and I was so excited that we could finally get our families together. We’ve wanted to do this for well over a year.

It was such a special evening, and we ended up staying on their patio chatting until almost 10:30.

When I look back on this summer, I will always be thankful for the time we’ve enjoyed with family and friends. It’s hard to know what the fall and winter ahead will bring, and I take nothing for granted. But the summer has been a golden time, a time to treasure being together with people we haven’t seen for so long.

Find more quick takes on Kelly’s blog, This Ain’t the Lyceum, and have a wonderful week!

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