Back to School Relief

I used to think it was horrible that parents counted down the days until their kids go back to school. Well, with three wild little boys running around, I've pretty much eliminated all parent condescension from my vocabulary.

So, while I have to admit that the day the oldest two go back to school and leave me and the youngest free from all their constant bickering is a day circled in red on my calendar, the summer will be remembered fondly. But not for the constant fighting and headaches. Instead, I'll remember the summer they pretended to own a pirate academy; created a backyard water park (and charged admission) with mini-pools made of buckets and snow saucers; tried to sleep all night in their backyard fort along with half of the blankets, pillows and stuffed animals from their rooms; checked out books on science experiments and even tried a few—our favorite was the exploding film canister with Alka-Seltzer; and even the all-out neighborhood battles with 10 boys in my yard armed with light sabers and dart guns.

Oh, yeah, it's been quite a summer—just give me a couple of months to adjust my memories.