10 Signs It's The Last Week of School

Here in Phoenix school gets out EARLY, at least compared to Elk Grove, where we had our year-round schedule and most kids were at school through June before returning again in late July.

Here it's the real deal: a bona fide almost-3-month-long summer vacation.

And, just like Christmas, the kids are counting down the days. Or I should say, day. Tomorrow is it. Last day ... and a half day at that.

The past couple weeks something has been in the air ... or the water. Coupled with the recent string of 100+degree-days, it's about impossible to miss the signs that the school year is coming to a close.

Things like:

• Schools. Out. For. Sum-muh. Nick gleefully singing Alice Cooper's ode-to-summertime anthem." Zach loves to chime in, too. They both know it well because it's on one of the Guitar Hero games.
  
• The backpack coming home filled with empty folders, binders, rulers, markers and other odds and ends that I have no idea what to do with.
• The evenings feeling more relaxed without the homework ax ready to fall. No. More. Homework.
• The plotting of parties, sleepovers and get-togethers at Extreme, the local computer gaming hangout frequented by tweens.
• Nick counting down the days until their trip to "Cali." This year they're leaving on Saturday for their annual summer trek to torture, I mean spend quality time, with their grandparents.
• Me scrambling to find summer activities and camps for the kids. So far: Beach house rental on the coast for the family for a week, Blake's overnight soccer camp, Blake and Nick's trip to California, swimming lessons and gymnastics for the twins ... still working on something else for Nicky.
• Not noticing (or maybe not minding) that Blake and Nick are going to bed later and later.
• Nick announcing that today's the day "We stack our desks and chairs." And then telling me they "get to" sit on the floor tomorrow. Ouch. But really, it's just a half day and they're having a party ... who needs chairs?
• Nick pulling out his tubs of K'Nex building pieces and has even drawn (on four pieces of paper taped together) a diagram of the elaborate roller coaster he plans on building.
• Me poking around online for a good laptop. These days Zach and Allie are clamoring for computer time and of course Blake and Nick want their gaming and surfing time, too. All the kids home (with one computer-dependent mom) with just one computer isn't gonna cut it.
• And (OK, this is 11 ... oh well) the overall bouncing off the walls.
  

"No more pencils
No more books
No more teacher's dirty looks

Out for summer
Out till fall
We might not go back at all"
~ Alice Cooper

Slip N Slide -- Times Two

"Ah, summer, what power you have to make us suffer and like it."
~Russel Baker

Back when we lived in our house-without-a-pool in Elk Grove, we often took Blake and Nick to the community swimming pool and the pool at our gym.

But on those days when we didn't feel like packing the pool paraphernalia and getting into a scorching car in the 100-degree heat, we whipped out an old favorite: the Slip N Slide. And who doesn't love a Slip N Slide?

Now that we're in Phoenix and are lucky enough to have a pool (actually luck had nothing to do with it; it was one of my demands during the should-we-move-negotiations) the Slip N Slide was a distant memory.

Until ... we went to Allie's end-of-the-season party thrown by her dance studio. As soon as Allie and Zach spied it, they were hooked. Brett got a good workout in, too.

Things Nobody Ever Told Me About Being a Mom

"Before I got married I had six theories about bringing up children; now I have six children, and no theories."

~John Wilmot

This year marks my 13th as a mom ... and like all moms, I'm muddling my way through, learning as I go. I've read what I can in books, magazines and online forums. I've talked to other moms, teachers and friends. Whether it's ear infections, diaper rashes, preschool, bullies on the playground, soccer tryouts, kids using cell phones, or dealing with adolescent attitudes, we compare notes, share triumphs and lament the challenges.

But there are some things that just come -- no rehearsals, no preparation. Some hit you head-on; others touch you softly like a butterfly kiss.

Some things nobody ever told me about being a Mom:

• That I'd end up eating my morning bowl of cereal while standing and making school lunches instead of sitting down and eating.
• How eerily quiet the house is when they're all at school.
• That sitting in a dentist chair for an hour feels like a break.
• That wearing a floral sundress, striped tights, and princess tennis shoes could make a little girl so happy.
• That I'd watch (or hear) Cars, Pirates of the Caribbean and Star Wars movies for months at a time.
• That I'd have so much fun watching soccer games on weekends.
• That I'd get competitive about playing tetherball against an 8-year-old.
• That' I'd love it so much when I beat my husband and kids at Wii bowling.
• That staying tough and not giving in is sometimes so difficult.
• That knowing when to pick your battles is an art form, requiring practice and deliberation.
• How having a child stay home sick can really throw you off schedule.
• That putting a little girls' hair in a ballerina bun for dance class could be so difficult, but wow, isn't she so cute?
  
• That I could be SO relieved on the rare nights my 3rd grader doesn't have homework.
• That my heart would warm when, watching my 8-year-old play soccer, he'd make a great play, look over to see if I'm looking and then give me a great big smile.
• How happy I'd feel when I'm at a restaurant and my 4-year-old says, "I want to sit by Mommy."
• That I could be SO happy about not buying and changing diapers anymore.
  
• How relieved I'd feel after my child, who had struggled with reading and writing, finally is caught up with all our hard work.
• That even though four kids is definitely, positively IT for us, I still get those little yearnings when I see a pudgy-faced, smiling baby.
• That I'd never get tired of crayon drawings and watercolors of flowers, hearts and butterflies.