Dawn on the First Day of School

At 5:30 I finally looked at the clock -- morning enough for the first day of school.  It's rare when I wake before Silas, and if I do, just as I settle in at the kitchen table with a cup of tea, journal, and book, he appears and the small haven for centering disappears.  But this morning, everyone sleeps, and I find myself at the table with a cup of hot tea (which I can't quite taste, though stronger flavors have returned!) looking at the chalky grey sky outside.  

We've struck a deal about the bus: today, we will walk out to the bus stop and meet neighbors, see who's there, wait for the bus to come, poke our heads on, say hi to the driver, and then jump in our car to follow it to school.  Ben will drop Silas and me at the curb so we can watch everyone unload while he parks, and then we'll all walk to the classroom together.  Tomorrow, he'll board.  (ack!).  That's the plan.  

First day of school fairy presents are sitting in Silas's doorway.  Croissants are in the oven, and eggs are ready to go -- first day of school breakfast.  We make eggs nearly every morning, and I'm trying to prepare my small egg-lovers for a change in menu once this baby comes.  Cereal.  Toast.  Yogurt.  Hard boiled egg.  Somehow, they don't find any of those options quite so appealing.   

Sitting here it has just struck me, speaking of food, that I have to make lunch and snack.  Forgot about that job.  So I will go do that now.  Feeling the grind of endless days of lunch-making as I look at the months stretching ahead -- best to think about simply making lunch today.  I can make lunch today.  Yes, one lunch, I can do.

High school kids are walking past the window.  It's 6:30.  Could they really have some place they already need to be??  Again, best to think about simply 1st grade and the 8:15 bus, driving behind it.  We can do that.