It is just past the middle of August, and with the hot weather outside, it is so hard to think about things like school, homework, or regrouping with friends that you had left behind when school had ended for summer vacation. But the fact is, school here in Nashville is due to start the day after Labor Day; this is just a few weeks away. At the present time, my gang is out in the yard, their excited, childish laughter ringing in the clear, but hot air, and they are having the time of their lives, frolicking in the backyard while Daddy cooks hotdogs, hamburgers, and shrimp on the grill.
We are going to have a good, old-fashioned summer family picnic. Sandusky-style.
But I have been busy preparing for their school return: I have been busy hitting all the "back-to-school sales" at the stores, stocking up on their school needs; and I have also been buying clothes at garage sales and used clothes boutiques. As a mom to over 30 adopted children with special needs, feeding and clothing my army is downright expensive; I have no choice BUT to be "penny-wise"! I have also been getting their school medical records up to date and getting them their needed shots before they start school--much to their dismay.
There is NOTHING like getting a shot in the arm when one would rather be doing something like playing basketball or hanging out in the backyard clubhouse with their friends!
Talk about a SUREFIRE way to ruin one's day...
But it is an ABSOLUTE necessity in my family, especially since a good majority of the children are "special-needs"; and that quite a few have severe physical disabilities; plus some are what doctors call "medically fragile": they have life-threatening illnesses, and one CANNOT take a chance with germs with these children! They can be fine one minute, and the next, they are being rushed to a nearby emergency room, gasping for breath. They aren't that strong as it is, and any little germ can play ABSOLUTE HAVOC with them!!
Like Johnny or Rhiannon, or even Jodie and Todd, for instance.
One has to be EXTREMELY careful when one has children like mine...
I also get a little sad during this time because other than Kwame' and Benjamin, our children are now all in school; the little ones aren't so little; and the others are growing up right before my eyes. Just yesterday I diapered their little bottoms, and now, they are headed off to preschool or even kindergarten; and even to grade, junior, or even senior high school; and some are even in COLLEGE!! It won't be long before Stephanie and Tanya take that step into adulthood and leave the nest; probably by this time next year they will be gone...
Makes me feel SO OLD. And it DOESN'T HELP MATTERS that I now am a grandma and have 3 GRANDCHILDREN!!
And just yesterday, I overheard Ronee' telling her friend Nicole that she was thinking of going to college, just "in case her country music career doesn't work out"; she is thinking of going to Louisiana State University-Lafayette in Lafayette, Louisiana, which is the same school her older sister, Dwerlina, is now attending at the present time. She is just 9 1/2 years old, but already she is talking "big-girl talk". She is just a child, but already she is discussing where she would like to go to college.
I look at her, with her bright eyes, dimpled smile, and quick mind, and it just breaks my heart; my baby girl is growing up so fast! She is not so little anymore...
And I also think about Johnny, my little man. Unfortunately, he won't EVEN HAVE that chance. Doctors don't give him but 4 to 5 years at the most, due to his muscular dystrophy gradually getting worse. His disease is fatal; he will never know the joys of going to high school, going on his first date or to his first prom, learning to drive a car and then getting his driver's license, getting a girlfriend and then getting engaged (and hopefully married), or having children of his own. It about breaks my heart because sometimes life is so DAMNED unfair; and yet, innocent people, even innocent little children like my son, Johnny, don't even have a chance!
Oh, Lord, WHY?? WHY JOHNNY??
WHY can't my children remain the little angels I remember so fondly from the day He first brought them into Bill's and my life?
WHY must they grow up so fast??
And then people wonder why I am such an emotional wreck around the time school starts.
If they had children, maybe, just maybe, THEN they would understand....
Another wonderful piece Karen, keep up the great writting!
Reviewed by Shelly
8/27/2002
Very good piece here. Thanks for sharing it with us. School is back in for my son and me. Hugs
Reviewed by Rick Magers
8/23/2002
Hi Karen..........Very good story that many will enjoy. Flows good with interesting bits 'n pieces here and there. Do yourself a service and stop injecting words in all upper case.....it's the mark of an amateur.
kidz, they sure grow up fast! like weeds!! i know...my son is 16 years old, remember when he was born...seems like yesterday...and whoever said a mother forgets her labor?? 52 l-o-n-g hours, THEN a c-section...ain't no more after that one!! :) OW--pain lines!!!! :0 i do love this...mama louisiana sure loves her kids, you can see it. :) great job on this one, karen! TEN PLUS PLUS!!!!!! :) (((HUGS))) and love, karla. :)
A wicked Cajun Fairy named Robes Pierre entered the impenetrable Magical doll land of Sha Bebe. Queen Faustina, the ruler of the doll land, thought she had destroyed him, but he's back! Will the doll land survive his evil ways?
The familiar lament of dual-career parents raising children is, "I just can't do it all." The Libra Solution provides an alternative - a more satisfying and sustainable work and life approach - to the overwrought modern day norm.
A wicked Cajun Fairy named Robes Pierre entered the impenetrable Magical doll land of Sha Bebe. Queen Faustina, the ruler of the doll land, thought she had destroyed him, but he's back! Will the doll land survive his evil ways?
