FROM THE

BY SARAH NIGBOR

You’re going to miss this

August is always a little bittersweet, because while many fun events take place (Pierce County Fair, El Paso Days), the school year is looming on the horizon. Part of me is thrilled that school is starting, so we can settle into a routine and I can possibly work at home once in a while without children’s questions rapid-fire launched at me. And they are always completely random, require a lot of thought and are out of the blue.

“How old is Jimmy Carter? Was he president when you were born? Why are you so old?”

“How fast do sloths move and do they really only go to the bathroom once a week?”

“Who invented Bandaids? Why are they called Band-aids?”

“Great-grandma said she started drinking coffee when she was five. Why can’t I drink coffee now?”

“Why did the aliens pick Elmwood to visit? Why didn’t they come to our house? Will they come to our house?”

“I’m hungry (this is at least 25 times a day). I don’t want an apple. I don’t want a cheese stick. I don’t want crackers. I’m hungry for Taco Bell. I want pizza. Can we go to the fair and get cotton candy?”

Questions aside, part of me is also sad when summer is drawing to a close, because the anticipation we had at the beginning of summer has past, warm summer days are numbered, and it’s nice not worrying about homework, schedules and motivating children to wake up early for school.

My family calls me Drill Sgt. Sarah during the school year. Someone has to keep these people in line and on time. It’s not easy wrestling four kids who hate mornings and a husband who isn’t fond of them either out of bed into a bright new day. Luckily, I am a morning person and coffee is my best friend. I am annoyingly chipper by the time they drag themselves from the dregs of sleep. Sometimes they’re even lucky enough to hear my special good morning song. “Good morning, good morning, good morning, morning, morning, morning, mooooooooooooooooooorning!!” My husband especially loves this form of motivation (not really).

Then it’s prod, hammer, prod, nag, prod and shoo as they slowly get dressed (and of course they have nothing to wear even though their closets and dressers are stuffed), take forever to eat a bowl of cereal, fight over who gets to brush their teeth first, panic when they can’t find their planner, phone, ID card, keys, belt, socks, backpack, wallet, or brain. Of course, this is the time someone picks to begin a tedious task, like organizing their 10,000 baseball cards or finding their Barbie’s dress in a bin of 1,000 Barbie dresses. Then it’s the battle royale to see who can get their shoes on first and out the door. This struggle only intensifies when you throw in snow pants, mittens, hats and boots. Inevitably someone is mortally wounded when their sibling’s elbow accidentally brushes them, or their brother gets out the door first when they should have gotten out the door first.

By the time I’m seated in the car, I’m ready for a nap. I feel bedraggled and need more coffee. Then it’s the drive to school with the constant question peppering.

“What’s for supper? Why can’t we go to Buffalo Wild Wings every day?”

“When I grow up, what if I don’t want to move out? I want to live with you forever!”

“What is the capital of Nigeria?”

“What is 423 times 56?”

“Did Jesus bite his nails? If he did, I should be able to bite mine.”

The cliché is you’ll miss these days once the kids are grown. When you’re in the throes of raising children, sometimes it seems like they’re little and needing things forever. But I can already see things are changing. This year we have a freshman, a sixth grader, a fifth grader and a fourth grader. How is one already in high school? Weren’t they babies yesterday? How does the freshman already have a job?

Someday, when I have all the quiet I could wish for, I’ll miss their little voices interrupting me every 10 seconds asking for me to decipher their world. I will miss taking them to school. I will miss annoying them with my good morning song. I might not miss wrestling them into snow pants.

As the school year begins, we wish you a safe, happy, healthy school year full of learning and fun.