Summer is over; I have to wear my watch again.

Over summer vacation time was more or less relative. There were a scant few times when punctuality was required, but now that school is back in session and both kids are gone for at least part of the day, timing is everything.

Time is of the essence especially in the morning. Time to wake up, early enough to make the bus, but late enough, to savor every last precious moment of slumber. Time to eat, time to get dressed, time to GO! Our bus stop is early on the route and our bus driver is prompt. Mr. C. is at the bottom of my driveway at 8:11 every Monday through Friday excluding holidays. At 8:12 they are off to school, where their schedule is thankfully beyond my control, and I am off to my day.

Kindergarten is only a half day so I have a brief three and one half hours to myself. This may sound like a lot, but let me assure you it is not. We’re only eight days into this school year and I can already tell if I’m going to get anything accomplished, I’m going to need a solid plan of action heading into the day. And, I’m going to have to eliminate all distractions. Otherwise, those three and one half hours will slip away and I will be back at the bus stop not having accomplished a single thing.

Time after Noon moves at a different pace depending on what is on the agenda and if Mim is happy to play by himself. If the afternoon is consumed by errands, time is compressed. If there is nowhere to go or Mim is pining for his sister’s companionship, time passes at a speed comparable to ketchup oozing out of a glass bottle plop by agonizing plop.

Eventually, four o’clock will roll round and Fish will join us. Then, time speeds up. There is downtime, homework, dinner, lunches for the next day, tubs and showers, reading, and bed. By then, I don’t need a watch to tell me that it’s almost my bedtime. I remove my watch, crawl between the sheets and set the alarm so I can get up and do it all again.

I’m already looking forward to June, when I can once again lose track of my watch and the time.