Yesterday, duh, was the first day of school. In case you don’t know or don’t recall, I have one in kindergarten, a freshman in high school, and a senior in high school. It’s the parental version of a schizophrenic nightmare.

The last week of summer was beyond insane. A trip to Newport Beach, CA for Ethan turned into a hospital stay. His Retroperitoneal Lymph Node Dissection last December left him prone to hernias and bowel obstructions.

A week from last Saturday he had excruciating abdominal pain and was admitted to a hospital 3.5 hours away from us. Luckily, he had only a minor bowel obstruction that required observation for more than a few days in the hospital. We sprung him last Wednesday night and by the weekend he was back in “fighting form.” Although, he’s been restricted from all physical activity for the next month. Not the way I wanted his senior year to start, but we’re off and running now so onward and upward.

Maggie’s first day of kindergarten was traumatic for Mike and I. Our baby was dumped into an overcrowded classroom thanks to budget cuts (Thanks to the jackass governor who should have kept his ass in Hollywood and out of politics, tyvm!) and we are waiting until the end of the week to see how this resolves.

Still, Maggie was on her best behavior and I’m guessing it took a toll. By the time the she got home and took about twenty minutes to have a snack and recover from her day she turned into a wild child.

At one point I overheard Mike say, “Maggie! Did you draw on me?” Followed by a long pause as I heard him stomp to the bathroom and flick the light on. “Damn Maggie!!! I can’t go to work like this!!!!” She had been sitting next to him on the couch and he didn’t realize she had a pen in her hand until she had ran it along his forehead and down one arm.

Most kids would apologize, not Maggie, she laughed maniacally as she watched him scrub it off!

Then she grabbed my camera and ran around snapping pictures including one very telling “self portrait.”

We were finally settling in to play a few video games when Mike disappeared. I sent Maggie out to the backyard to find him but then she disappeared. Ethan opened up the back door to tell both Mike and Maggs to come back inside when he was nearly blinded by Maggie flashing a high powered flashlight into eyes. Seems she got sidetracked with her dad’s flashlight and went on a hunt to find crickets in the backyard.

The only person who made it through the day without incident was Miss Kate. She’s happily ensconced in her GATE (Gifted and Talented Education) classes complete with a music appreciation class.

Today is Day 2 and thank goodness for afternoon kindergarten because it is nearly 8:30am and Maggie is still in bed sound asleep. I’ve been up since 6am watching the news and drinking coffee with Ethan until he had to get ready for school.

The Doran household has launched full force into another school year, I don’t know who to pray for, us or the schools. :doh: