Back to School -- I hope I survive the last week before school starts!!

I LOVE summer vacation!! I wish it lasted four months, instead of two!!

Every year, I promise myself that I will get all their school books and supplies in the beginning of the summer, so that I don't have this crazy, mad rush the week before school starts.

And every summer I have a really good reason why that does not happen.

This summer was no exception!

So, this week had been really crazy, and today was THE CRAZIEST.

Let's start with our eye doctor. Our eye doctor only works one afternoon a week. Both of my older kids had weekly chugim (activities) that afternoon. Since I did not want to make them miss school or their activities, I made them eye doctor appointments for the summer, THREE MONTHS in advance!!

Well, it turned out that BOTH of my kids were away (on seminar or at camp) that week!!

The secretary was wonderful, and helped me reschedule, but I could not get a double appointment! So, I took my son in on Sunday, and my daughter's appointment was this (Tuesday) morning, at NINE O'CLOCK in the MORNING!!

Who wants to wake up at 7:30 AM, during the last week of summer vacation, for an eye doctor appointment?!?!

NO ONE!!!

But, with Moshe's help, I woke up ALL my kids, so that we could go shopping afterwards for school supplies (on that side of town).

You can imagine how much my kids loved that!

God bless them, they all did get up. And though we did not get out of the house on time (FRUSTRATION!!), the doctor did see my daughter and did not lecture us about being late.

Even more incredible, after she saw my daughter, she put drops in ALL of our eyes, since that never seemed to work out before (though we have been seeing her for many years).

The good thing about that was that I can relax, knowing that all of my kids are fully checked.

The bad thing about that was that it took several hours for us to be able to see clearly... and for me to be able to drive.

Next to the doctor's offices, in Givat Shaul, there is a (relatively) new branch of one of the major school/office supplies store. We stopped off there and were able to purchase about 1/3 of the supplies we needed.

Then I took the kids out for lunch -- they let me off easy today, and we just went for falafel at a quaint place, also next door.

By then, my vision had mostly returned, and we went to a general store in Romema for whatever else we could find. The store is great, with a wide range of products and competative prices, but it is across town and I only make it there once a year. This year, apparently, I will have to go back, because a light that we bought for my youngest has a short. (That will teach me not to purchase appliances across town!)

Though we purchased almost all the rest of the supplies we needed, we still did not find everything....

So we went to a THIRD store (a local branch of the first store), in Talpiot.

By this time, I was so exhausted that I actually went to the WRONG mall.

I drove to the mall, WAITED for parking, finally found a parking space, parked, got the kids out, passed through security with all my kids, and only THEN realized that I was in the wrong mall!!

So, we got back in our car and drove around the corner to the correct mall. (Needless to say, I felt like an idiot, but my kids had a good laugh!)

By this time, I was finished! I really just wanted to go home and go to sleep. But the day was yet young....

As I was parking the car (this time, in the correct mall), I realized that, in addition to a few more notebooks, the kids all needed to get a yoman (calendar/diary).

Groan.........

The range of diaries is extensive, as are the prices. Of course, the really fun diaries are not cheap! But I refuse to spend that much money on something that they are going to throw in the garbage at the end of the year. Not to mention that I have children who barely use their diaries at all during the year!! (we won't mention anybody specific, but.... I'm just sayin'!) So, I gave my kids their "budget" and I did not budge. Eventually, they all found something they could live with, within their allocated budget.

With every complaint, I offered them to make up the difference from their own money. Apparently, they also did not want to spend THEIR OWN money that way either.

My youngest, not surprisingly, found something "acceptable" first. More surprisingly, my son found something in almost the same time. My eldest only make her final choice when I gave her a three minutes deadline, after which she would have to come back on her own and purchase whatever she wants with her money. I just could not sit in that store any longer!! (Though I had parked myself on a nice, comfortable, probably orthopedic, office chair!)

My kids do not know this, but I had hoped to take them out for ice cream afterwards. Unfortunately, they took so long choosing their diaries, that we ran out of time!

This (Tuesday) afternoon, we scheduled our annual Gan HaVradim (Rose Garden Park) outing. We almost always do it on the 5th of Av, our son's birthday. But, for obvious reasons (read: The Bar Mitzvah!!), we were too busy this year.

Today was actually the only day we could reschedule it!!

So, when my friend called to say that she was ready to go, we left!

It was really a wonderful way to end the day. I did not have energy for much, but I really enjoyed being there. At one point, I really pushed myself to get up and play Frisbee for a bit. I knew that I would regret it if I did not participate at least a little. We toss a frisbee around every year, and it is great to help the kids and see their improvement over time.

I managed to drive home safely, despite being drop-dead exhausted.

We capped off the day with another fantastic episode of Star Trek.

And, now... I am going to bed!!

Finally!! (and it is not even midnight yet!)



Please daven (or send happy, healing thoughts) for RivkA bat Teirtzel.

With love and optimism,
RivkA