School?! Again?!

My youngest child is 5 and started kindergarten two weeks ago. This is my happy go lucky, sleep loving hulk of a child at 54 pounds. I guess someone forgot to tell him he came to menstarving from an orphanage.  Nonetheless, here he is. This morning I went into his room at 6:30 for our new normal morning exchange. I wake him up and he says,"why?"  I explain he has school and in a look of absolutely outrage he says,"school?! Again?!"  This leads to the explanation he has school every day and as I explained to some friends earlier I have not had the heart to explain to him this will
Go on for the next 12 years after kindergarten. I am personally now on day six of a particularly hard seven day work stretch. No. My bosses are not masochists, I just needed to squeeze in some time at my moonlighting gig before going out of town. I put him on the bus and stumbled in for a cup of coffee in my favorite mug and began to suddenly understand his emotion.

Through my exhaustion I realized I had the gym scheduled for an hour later. I suddenly had the urge to say "the gym?! Again?!"  I even chuckle to myself as I think about it. I began to think about how many things in life are so important yet seem like such a struggle sometimes.  There is the "work?! Again?!" Or "laundry?! Again?!" I never think twice about making my children do the hard work yet at times have the urge to give up on my own. Giving in to the day to day "agains?!" But ignoring the personal ones. In terms of the gym I began to think about times over the years I did just that. I took the easier road in a moment of exhaustion and lived to regret missing out on the greater things that could have followed.

As for today, my son was meeting me for a workout. That pushed my mama soul to lead by example and not back out. Now I may have required my typical loud music, ok Beastie Boys today, and a few four letter words on my way to the gym through the exhaustion. What the end product of my angry drive and presence at the gym was some pretty fast rowing, conquering the jump squat for the first time since I broke my hip, an all out at my personal best and a really good latte with my adult child. Things I would never have had during a nap. It occurs to me I am pretty lucky my 20 year old seems to like to hang out with his mom sometimes. It also occurs to me one day he will have his own family and not have as much time on his hands like he does now. So I suppose the answer to my earlier question "the gym?! Again?" Is now,"Yes!  The gym. Again. 💗💗💗💗". Beastie Boys motivation notwithstanding. Besides we are four days away from race day.....I know that day I will be glad I did not take a nap this morning.

As for my youngest?  He came bounding off the bus and is now sucking on his frozen gogurt chattering endlessly about recess and friends and story time. Somehow I think he may have changed his mind to "school again💗💗💗💗".