Crazy Heart Mama

We survived the first week of school. I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t a little rough. Junior high is hard, y’all. And I have two in junior high now. Liam is in the eighth grade and Colman just started sixth grade.

Sixth!

Ugh. The first day was bad. Colman came home in tears because he lost all of his school supplies, got on the wrong bus (which turned out to be the right bus), lost his lunchbox and tearfully reported that somebody called him “a midget.” It was enough to make the mama bear in me almost unleash on that Sasquatch, but I stayed calm. And by “calm,” I mean that I silently seethed and didn’t go up to school to kick some 13-year-old ass. In the meantime, I came up with no less than a million good comebacks for Colman in case somebody else bullied him about his size. He finally said, “Mama, I think if somebody says something to me, I’m just going to ignore it.”

Yes, there’s always that, which is probably a much better choice.

The second day was better. Colman found his school supplies and had to field only a few comments about his size. Both the boys missed the bus home due to the bus driver giving them bad information the day before.

On the third day, I thought I had the bus situation figured out. Unfortunately, the bus driver is a slow-learner and let them off about half a mile from our house and Colman had to walk in the heat with his giant backpack. Kevin and I had both gotten home early that day and were able to meet the boys, but not before Colman was completely worn out. A cardiac kid plus midday heat is not a good combination.

Where’s Old Tats when we need him?

It was a crazy summer where we sold our house and bought another. Sorting through eleven years of stuff was quite the project. We moved the week before school started. We’re within the same school district, so everybody still has their same friends which is nice. I love our new neighborhood, and I think the boys will too. Especially when they start making friends with the neighborhood kids.

Then Buster, our Golden Retriever, died. I was weepy for an entire week even though I kept telling myself, “He was just a stupid dog.” I’d had Kevin take him to the vet at the beginning of the second week in July for what I thought was a hot spot. The vet gave him some antibiotics, but Buster couldn’t keep them down. So I took Buster back to the vet on that Friday because he just looked so bad to me. They called me that afternoon to tell me he was ready for pickup, but that the vet wanted to speak to me. Turns out, Buster had a giant tumor on his spleen and liver and was bleeding into his belly. Buster collapsed in the waiting room of the vet’s office, so I left him in the hospital overnight. Kevin and Liam went back down to the vet’s office on Saturday morning and the vet put him down.

Then Kevin told me that if I ever thought he didn’t look well, he’d appreciate it if I’d just keep that to myself because I have a knack for predicting death in both people and animals within a couple of days.

One of my many gifts, I guess.

(I’m going to keep that in my back pocket for the next time he pisses me off.)

Colman also had his much-anticipated heart cath this summer and his numbers and heart looked great, which really doesn’t jibe with my being so worried about him right now. He looks really tired to me, but maybe it’s the first week of school and a new routine. Fingers crossed that’s all it is.

First day of school pic:

Eighth, sixth & Pre-K!

All in all, we had a great summer full of fun and travel, even though there were moments where I thought I’d maybe bit off more than I could chew. I’m exhausted, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.