First day of school, and Mom is the one that cried..

Unlike Phineas & Ferb, my boys didn't have '104 days of summer vacation'..I think they had 62! School started back today! I'm not a fan of going back to school the first week of August, but I can see the pluses and minuses of it. It would be nice to have a few more weeks of sleeping late, hanging out with friends, going to the pool and whatver else my boys have done in their 62 days off, but as a mom who works full-time, I like having a routine! I like dinner at a certain time, we do this on this day, and this on that day. I like being able to set my watch by the time we leave to catch the bus. This morning was a perfect morning! Everyone was up early, there wasn't any fussing, everyone got out the door on time, it was nice. I imagine next week will be an entirely different scenerio! The big boys will sleep until the last possible minute, Hankadoo will be grumpy, we'll be running out the door to catch the bus, etc. I am, however, going to miss my nice, quiet mornings where it's just me and the morning news. I drink my coffee, check my email, and Facebook, and take my time getting ready for work. I enjoy the quiet mornings, and now that school is back in, the choatic mornings will start coming. And, fall sports will start pretty soon, too. There will go any chance of a night-time routine! I may as well just hang up the idea of having a perfect routine. And, really, life isn't about schedules and routines, it's the unexpected, non-planned events that are the daily happenings. Things can get crazy, and busy, but as long as my boys are home at the end of the day, it all balances out..

As smooth as the morning went, it started out sad for me. Hankadoo woke up early, and when I went to put him back in bed, he snuggled up to his bed full of stuffed animals, and then wanted me to hold his hand until he fell back asleep. I sat there, with his little hand in mine, his arm around his favortie stuffed dog, Regal, and I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes. I could have sat there all day and just watched him sleep.

My babies aren't babies anymore! Hankadoo is in 1st grade, and the big boys are starting their sophomore and junior year. It doesn't seem possible! I can still look at Austin and see the little dark-haired, 4-year-old in glasses, I can see PJ in his Mickey Mouse underwear pretending to be Stone Cold Steve Austin! WWE was huge in our house when the big boys were little boys! Now, they are both taller than me, and will be driving soon. Austin's voice is so deep that he sounds like a grown man, and he eats more than most grown men. That kid has a hollow leg! And, PJ is this buff, muscle kid who has all the girls chasing him. Gone are my little boys! I'm proud of the young men that they have turned into. And, I know that in a few years, I'll be writing the same thing about my sweet Hankadoo. There's not going to be many more mornings where he curls up with stuffed animals and wants momma to hold his hand until he goes back to sleep. But, I'm going to cherish it while I can. I have to confess, after I got to work, I sat in my office and cried. I know Trace Atkins is right when he sings, "You're going to miss this, you're going to want this back...."