Back to School: The Rest of the Story

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Stasha at Monday Listicles asked us to make a list about school. Quite frankly, we have been too busy to have time for the requisite cartwheels and high-fiving, but we see you, Carpool Moms, celebrating with your barely concealed glee and we say, “Meh, we’ll catch ya next year.”

We COULD have made lists of the back-to-school necessities which almost required a bridge loan. With 5 kids back to school this year, Erin’s monetary expenditures over the last month rivaled the GDP of some small countries.

We COULD have gone on about the myriad ways in which we procrastinated at the business of back-to-school and  how that came back to bite us. Thank goodness for overnight shipping and generous return policies!

We COULD have poked fun at the Pinterest boards full of Bento boxes, healthy lunches, and back-to-school ideas all of which anyone living with an actual child has no time to do.

But like we said before, things have been a little hectic around here so our Monday Listicle is going to showcase what we’ve been doing since the kids went back to school.

Channelling our inner Paul Harveys, “This is the rest of the story.”

1. Ellen spent last week as a New York City nanny for a New York minute to her 3 year old nephew. She saw how the other side lives, this time as a City Mom rather than a Country Mom. She hung at the Central Park Zoo and the American Museum of Natural History.  We might have lost her to this urban oasis if she could hang in Central Park all day, the temperature never went below 55 degrees, and the taxi prices weren’t about to go up 17%. And, oh yeah, her family in Maryland falling apart without their fearless leader.

2. Two days before school started, Erin got a job!  After a 14 year baby-raising hiatus, she is officially back in the classroom as a teacher. It’s a dream part-time gig at her kids’ school.  In fact, the only better job for her might be driving the karma bus, but as it seems that THIS gig actually pays, she is pretty happy about this new change.

3.  Barely unpacked from her nanny gig, Ellen repacked and headed out into our local environs to play camp counselor for a week with the sixth-graders at her daughter’s middle school. Apparently, a summer spent kayaking, canoeing, hiking, and camping with her crew and all of ours wasn’t enough—she wanted to do it all with other people’s tweens. To further underline what a rock star move this is, we are sharing this card with Ellen’s philosophy on camping.

4. On the home front, Erin showed her homework center who was boss. She was not going to be taken down by chewed up pencils and errant pencil grips anymore. If you have a handful of kids, you know this was no small feat, so we are mentioning it. And yes, we would appreciate some nodding in solidarity and even a little shout-out for taking the time. Erin’s kids are not nearly as impressed as they should be.

5. In a similar vein, Ellen liberated her Tupperware drawer. She cleared out ALL of the old and replaced it with ten dollars worth of matching Rubbermaid.  Don’t judge. You know you wish this is what your Tupperware drawer looked like. Feel free to pin this on to your “Genius” board.

Okay, there are a few disposable Ziplocs left because those darn kids are always losing them at lunch.

6. Erin bought new brakes for her car, because while a “Soccer Mom with no brakes” sounds like a great punchline, it could get ugly and dangerous pretty quick.

7. On the SAME day, Erin bought a new water softener system, because if things are going to get ugly, they might as well get expensive and messy and stressful as well. Thank goodness we keep wine and Cheez-its around for just these occasions.

8. On the other side of town, Ellen’s lawn mower broke with her lawn half-mowed. These things tend to come in threes. But usually to the same person. Perhaps Ellen and Erin are spending too much time together.

9. Because Erin JUST got her job, she is still on the hook for some of the volunteering gigs she was doing BEFORE the big change. This means that she spent the better part of a week hunting down suppliers for 100 lbs of mushrooms and 80 lbs of cabbage for her kids’ school, hounding local businesses to sponsor her cub scouts’ pushcart race, and helping her son who is in the final stages of finishing his Eagle Scout project. Don’t tell her that she needs to slow down. Don’t tell her that she needs a break. She knows. She KNOWS.

10. Oh, and a fair amount of time was spent working on the blog, which was not an afterthought  AT ALL, but the thing we talked about in every spare moment NOT driving kids to practice, helping them with homework, and doing all of the other things we did since school started.

And now you know the rest of the story.

Erin and Ellen

 

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30 thoughts on “Back to School: The Rest of the Story”

  10. Mary

    Before I head back to bed (because I am totally exhausted by reading your blog and it only reminds me of my own crazy life) I am going to organize my tupperware drawer because you have totally inspired me!!

    Reply ↓
  13. Stasha

    Busy double e’s!! After my van died , my dryer followed the week later. I am waiting for #3 too 🙂
    One day I will tackle my plastic containers wildland. I will! Congrats on going back to classroom Erin.may the force be with you xo
    Stasha recently posted..Monday ListiclesMy Profile

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  14. Jackie

    I’m exhausted for you two!
    And I’d be lying if I didn’t admit I’m a bit envious of the part-time job at your kid’s school Erin. I do hope in a few years I can follow your lead… you know after I birth this next kid and everything.
    Enjoy carpooling hell!
    Jackie recently posted..Before Back to SchoolMy Profile

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  18. deborah l quinn

    If ever I were to pinterest something (and I never will b/c it scares me), I would pin that tupperware drawer. I think those damn plastic things are breeding in the darkness, or else like starfish they spontaneously grow extra lids. It’s freaky. Your list proves the old saying: if you want to get something done, ask a busy person. Keep it all going – and pass the cheez-its, please.
    deborah l quinn recently posted..Labor Day & A MetaphorMy Profile

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    1. The Sisterhood Post author

      See I was envisioning more of a Hunger Games scene where the bowls were being killed off by the lids and hovercraft were coming in the middle of the night to whisk them away. Ellen

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  20. Kim at Mama Mzungu

    Erin – congrats on the new job! I’ll say it again: part time work is the holy grail of modern motherhood. Hope you can make it work with all your pre-work commitments.

    Thanks for sharing ladies. I don’t know where you get the energy, but part of my wants to join you – especially if we can have a tupperware organizing party. That’s a thing, right?
    Kim at Mama Mzungu recently posted..Village Stay: How to get your kid to wash dishesMy Profile

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  23. heidi

    Congratulations on the job, Erin! Woohoo! I need you guys to sort out my Tupperware. It’s a disaster. Containers everywhere, missing lids..yikes! (That’s a Scooby Doo reference just for you)
    I’m over the healthy lunches and the perfect lunch bag or the most magical organic food for your child ever! posts and pins. Come on, people.
    Love your posts. I always feel good about myself when I visit here.
    heidi recently posted..summer as winterMy Profile

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