5 on a Friday: THE NEST IS EMPTYING WHAT (35/52)

 1. IS THIS THE LAST NIGHT ALL 5 KIDS ARE AT THE POOL FOR THE FINAL WHISTLE?

2.  Not only can Jack go get our first PSL’s of the season, but he is also committed to driving Dorothy from school to dance one night a week. THE TIMES ARE A-CHANGING.

3. The BLUE BAGS are packed and some have even been already unpacked in his dorm (you could move your stuff in early for a small fee, which is so cool when real move in happens on the way to a family wedding and you have 7 people in your car).

The pre-move move was clearly very sweaty. Also he is sharing a room smaller than Dorothy’s with a whole- ass other grown person. For 20k a year. COLLEGE IS WILD.

4. Dorothy is also growing up. No mini dances this year and some serious big kid tapping. She went to an awesome intensive in the Chicago burbs and had a blast and learned a ton.

It was really hard

5. And don’t even get me started on Minnie! Who is all of the sudden into CHAPTER BOOKS at bedtime. My heart can’t handle all of this at once.

Bonus random tidbit: saw this hat in the juniors section at Von Maur today and really missed my dad

Big Feelings

 SO MANY FEELINGS.

I am so thankful for this wonderful blogging community. I had a core group of blog friends who stopped blogging when their kids got big (but I just kept having more kids), and I was mostly OK with a smattering of comments and emails from internet friends here and there for year. BUT THEN. Elisabeth started commenting here, and through her, I found so many wonderful writers and new friends. AND I AM SO GRATEFUL, especially now because Harry is leaving, and I have SOME FEELINGS about it. It is wonderful, for example, to hear Nicole and Jenny tell me how hard it is going to be and sort of give permission for big feelings. And to have Ernie assure me that kids grow up and still need you and everything is FINE even if it doesn't look like it always has. And to hear from old blogging friends like Maya and Julie and Allison who also prove that there is life and joyful connection on the other side of kids growing up.

I am feeling very Golden Girls about all of you (I want to be pretty like Blanche and just devastating like Dorothy, BTW) right now as my OG mom blog friends’ group text is getting Very Sad because we are all moving our OG blog babies into college and also menopause and WOW.

To do his part to help me prepare, Harry has been an absolute ASSHOLE to us and his siblings, and also moving a kid to college is a sinking hole of a money pit— sooooo I am also not not looking forward to the big day being behind us, you know?

Dance placements came out, and Dorothy made too many dances (a good problem for her ego but also she came up against our max line, and we had to turn two groups down which makes us the bad guys) but then a friend QUIT THE TEAM, and now I feel bad for passing on a great dance that needs another dancer. I have Lisa’s voice in my head about making decisions based on the end game, and I know it does not matter in the scheme of things if she does 5 or 6 dances, but it feels very important right now. And maybe my dance feelings are just a side shoot of college feelings and middle school feelings and having no kids at the neighborhood school this year and Minnie being such a big kid and also MENOPAUSE. 

Look at these middle schoolers!

Dorothy got a major big kid haircut, too!

BEFORE

After:

Love that she has her eyes closed in both pics. I’m the best photog, obvs.

Ok, friends. Sorry I have been MIA from your blogs, too. I am off to order a target cart for the Eau CLaire Target and probably cry the whole time.