First Day of School Eve

Does anyone know what tomorrow is???  Besides the fact that tomorrow is Wednesday, it is also the Goombas' first day back to school!  Woo hoo!  I am so excited---er, I mean, THEY are so excited!!!  And, not only is this just back to school, this is Peach's first day of full-day Kindergarten.  You read that right:  All three Goombas will be in the same school, for the same amount of hours, on the same days.  The day has finally come.  And honestly, for all my big talk about being free and partying... Well, I am actually feeling a little bit mixed about the whole thing. 

It started the other day at Target.  Peach reminded me to get something that I had forgotten to write down on my list.  I said, "Oh, thank you, Peach!  I almost forgot!"  Peach shook her head and said, "what are you going to do without me when I am in school all day?  You will forget all the good groceries!"  And then it hit me.  She is right.  I probably will forget most of the "good" groceries.  But, also, what am I going to do without my little sidekick?  Over the past year, we have spent our afternoons together.  Just me and my Peach.  She helps me count Box Tops for the school.  She reminds me what to get at Target.  She comes with me to get my eyebrows waxed and watches carefully, telling the waxing lady if she misses a spot.  I am not going to lie here.  It kinda gave my heart a little squeeze.

Then, just this evening, I was cutting tags off new shoes so they would be ready to go bright and early in the morning.  I was looking at Mario and Luigi's shoes and I thought, "Dang.  Those look big."  So, I pulled out my tennis shoes just to see how they measured up. 

Sure enough, they were the same size as mine.  Mario's are even a bit bigger.  There goes that squeeze on my heart again.  My baby boys have feet as big as mine.  Which means soon they will also be taller than me.  Which means one day soon, I will have to pull out the step-stool and stand on it to yell at them. 

I am so ready for tomorrow.  This brand new chapter in our little land of Goombas.  I am excited for all of the amazing things waiting for them at school and with new friends.  I am excited for myself, to finally get a breather, a bit of a break to catch up on everything I haven't been able to do for 11 years.  But, as with everything else, it is a little bittersweet. 

So, tomorrow morning, I will put my smile on my face, take my babies' pictures and walk them into school. Then, when I get back out to the parking lot, I know I will cry.  In fact, I will probably do the ugly cry for a little bit. 

And then, I will go home and make myself a mimosa and toast the fact that I have done my job.  Dare I say, even possibly a good job!  I have raised my Goombas to school age and we all survived.  Now on to the next adventure!

Cheers,
~Daisy

A Short Story

We just spent a really nice afternoon playing Family Edition Trivial Pursuit with the Goombas.  A difficult question came up for the kids, so I made up a multiple choice for them.  It was something about an author that wrote a series of mystery books for kids.  So, I gave the Goombas 4 choices:  a) Cam Jansen, b) Nancy Drew, c)Alex Rider, d) the Hardy Boys. 

After the game (which the Goombas dominated), Mario said, "Hey Mom, were those other books real?" 

"Yes!" I replied.  "Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys were old mystery books.  They were introduced in the late 20s and became really popular with young readers in the 50s and 60s."

"Ok.  How would you even know about something like that?" my inquisitive child asked me.

"I read them when I was a kid."

"But how could you even find such an old book before you had the internet?"

Wah, wah, waaaaaaaahhhhh....

"Well, there USED to be these things called card catalogs in the library..."  And before I could even finish, my beloved Mario said,

"I mean, I didn't even realize you were around in the 50s and 60s!"

Double WAH, WAH, WAAAAAAAHHHHHH.

Thanks, Mario.  I love you.

Cheers!
~Daisy

A Mommy Drinking Game

Remember that game that you played in college (or maybe even high school, or maybe even still today?) called "I Never?"  If you never had the pleasure, here is how it works.  One person says, "I never ran around campus naked."  Then everyone who DID run around campus naked has to take a drink.  You can fill in the blank with whatever you want.  I never ate a worm, I never got arrested, I never fell asleep in class...   ok, you get the point.

Bowser and I were talking the other day about all of the things we said we would NEVER do as parents.  Oh there are so very many things....   So, I decided to make up my own little Mommy Drinking Game called "I Will Never."  Here are the rules: 1-Think back to your pre-baby days and remember all of the things  you said you would never ever ever do, and 2-If you did it, you have to take a drink.  Ready?  I've got my Coors Light right here.  And, GO!

I will never let my baby cry and ruin everyone's dinner at a restaurant.
    Drink one for me.
 
I will never let toys overrun my home. 
     That's another drink for me.

I will never let my child/children look disheveled or unclean in public.
    Better take 2 on that one.  

I will never let my child wear a Halloween costume for 6 months straight because it is the only thing they want to wear.
    Drink!

I will never drag my children kicking and screaming through a grocery store just to get milk because we have been out for 3 days and we need it desperately.
     Drink again for me.  

I will never run out of things like milk or bread or other healthy staples.
     Whew.  Another one.  

I will never fight with Bowser in front of the kids.
      I should probably just finish this first one.  *hiccup*

Ok, new beer.  How are you doing so far?

I will never let the laundry pile up so much that I have to go to Walmart to buy underwear just so the kids don't have to wear their dirty ones.
    Sip!

I will never be the obnoxious mother running up and down the sidelines of a sporting event screaming at her kid to "get on the ball and attack, what is wrong with you!!!!"
     chug, chug, chug.

*hiccup!*

I will never bribe my children with candy to get them through the church service/school concert/grocery store.
     Drink again!

I will never feed my children crap like high-fructose corn syrup and nasty things like fruit snacks and doritos.  
      Gulp.  This one is almost gone...

I will never make separate meals for my children if they "don't like" what we are having.  They will have to learn to eat what we eat.
     Just gonna go ahead and finish this one.    
     Aaaahhhhh....

Third beer.  (already?)  I fink I'm theeling tipsy.

I will never feed the kids ice cream and put on a movie for dinner just because I am too tired to deal with cooking a meal that no one will eat anyway.
    glug, glug, glug

I will NEVER let my kiddos watch more than 1 or 2 hours of tv a day.
    Drink!  Woo hoo!  Thish ish fun!!!

I will never spoil them with the latest video games/gaming devices/movies/etc.  (etcetera.  that is funny word.)
    Drinking againnnn!

Oh! I got anosther one!  I will never skip pages in a book at bedtime just to hurry up and get downstairs for the new episode of Grey's Anatomy.
     Drinky-drink-drink!

I will never ever lie to my kids about things like "the ice cream man ran out of ice cream," or "sorry, Target doesn't let you buy toys on a Tuesday."
    Darn it, thish one ish almosht gone.   maybe if i turn the bottle uspshide down, I can get more...

*hiccup*

Have you been playing along?  What ish your "I Vener...Nefer... wait... NEVERER?"

Cheers!!
~Daisy

ps--have fun, drink responsibly, and enjoy laughing at how silly your pre-kid philosophies were!