Summer flew by, didn’t it? In the blink of an eye, the dog days are behind us and you can feel (and smell) autumn in the air. We picked up the last-minute items F needed for school this week and it hit me: school starts tomorrow.

We live and die by routine all year – we kind of hate it, but we love the way it keeps us going. After today, it’s bedtime and morning alarms, travel mugs and lunch bags, and what do you mean you can’t find your shoe? season. And it’s bittersweet.

And it’s bittersweet.

I missed F a lot this summer as he enjoyed the same summer I had as a kid, free as a bird to play outdoors and discover himself in the sunshine and salty air of home. It’s not the same, you know, to be a kid in the city. A week of vacation with him, without work, was hardly enough and yet it almost felt like too much – especially since it wasn’t just us. I’m glad he’s back, but I’m sad we didn’t get to enjoy a few more days in each other’s company.

I know the next few weeks will be hard – on both of us – as we get used to a new teacher, a new before and after school care arrangements and try to adjust to our new schedule. I’m already dreading the morning pleading, the pre-bed fights, the half-eaten food left in the backpack to be discovered unceremoniously when I’m looking for his communication log.

But I can’t wait to see what this year brings us. Peace out, summer.