Eye of the Hurricane

Last Sunday I woke up with some crazy flu that did me right in.  I lost 2 whole days and when I  finally got out of bed, I realized we were well into the month of August.  AUGUST. 

I know for alot of people August simply means last minute picnics and trips to the beach.  Some families might even be leaving for a nice relaxing week at the cottage.   Well, there is a whole population of moms who looked at the calendar this week and broke out into a cold sweat.  Not August.   Please no.   Pretty soon it will be mid-August. 

Mid-August is where the most sensitive & cosmically aware beings (a.k.a women everywhere) recognize  a break  in the  space time continuum.  It takes place every year at this time.   We can sense its arrival.   First its just a queasy feeling in the pit of your stomach.   Like the feeling you had last week  when you ran into the dollar store  for sunblock  and found Christmas wreaths hanging near the checkout counter.    Next, its the realization that you've  had as much quality time with the kids as you can stand.    For me, this stage hit in late July.  I realized if  I spent another minute trying to understand Liv's latest piercing, I would  most certainly lose sight of the fact that Izzy could be running around the neighborhood wearing her favorite shorts for the 3rd day in a row.   Yeah and honestly watching Genevieve sit  in her comfy chair changing the channels on the TV with her big toe  is  starting to lose  its charm.    The lazy hazy days of summer may conjure up thoughts of  porch swings & freshly squeezed lemonade for some folks.   Not me.    I am just figuring the odds of making it through these last few weeks without a visit from a uniformed public servant  looking for my son.

 These are the early signs of the breach in time & space as we know it.   This is the period where summer and fall converge in the worst possible scenario.   Pretty soon, the world is spinning around us and we are living in the eye of a hurricane.   We start to notice  more mail arriving ~ notices from school, schedules and flyers with back to school sales.   Yes, its here overloading our day timers, blackberries and our brains.  Last minute pool parties  & weekend camp outs fight for time alongside school shopping, finding the perfect pair of sneakers,  and making  too many trips to  Staples to find the  must be lime green,  2 pocket , no brads please  folder for 4th grade science. 

While we are flipping through the newspaper looking for the best price on erasable pens,  our mind is really focused on how badly we need that pedicure.    Can I justify one more round of  super shiny ragin'  raspberry?  How much more sandal time am I really going to see?   Oh, look at that.  Office Max has the spiral binders the kids always need.  

Serious moms make an attempt to gain the upper hand over this time by planning and working our lists.     I started this week:   New glasses for Gigi.   Izzy wants to play Flute this year.   Max has outgrown everything / needs everything.   Remember  dentist appointments Monday.   Sports physicals and paperwork due the 18th.    Izzy will need a new backpack.  Oh and a lunch box.   Cha-Ching.  The sound of  Mid-August.  

This is also the point in the summer where we believe we will find peace and happiness if  we just  get it all done by  September 1st.   Hitting the September 1st deadline  requires commitment and resources.  Especially financial resources.  It is here that the hunter ~ gatherer kicks in and we become skilled shoppers  working the  newspaper ads and coupon circuit.

I   heard about  a website:  moneysavingmoms.com.   Time to rise to the occasion.  Time to  show mid-August what I'm really made of.   I'll sign up.  I'll become a money saving mom.   So, I registered, typed in details like my date of birth and I was in.   Time to  claim my coupons.   I logged in and the first thing that came up was an ad for the scooter store.  THE SCOOTER STORE.   Apparently something in my date of birth led these folks to believe I may need a motorized chair to get around.  They wanted to offer me a chance to save some $$$ on mine.    Are you kidding me?   

Then I started thinking...Sometimes it rains.  Sometimes it pours and sometimes you feel like you are living in the eye of the hurricane.   Here I am surrounded by a whirlwind of  last minute  summer stuff, school shopping, appointments, & teenagers behaving badly.  The most responsible of us just push on through logging miles to the outlet mall and grabbing that last pack of 99 cent loose leaf paper.   But then there are the dreamers.   For just a little while, what would it be like to turn off your cell, leave the house without your purse and just run?   If only for a few hours.   Better yet we could race off with the wind in our hair  allowing the world to fly by.  We  could just keep  moving without a care in the world.   Feeling lighter and free  going a brisk 4mph on our  Jazzy Select^® GT  scooter.    Grab your motorized chair and leave the hurricane behind... Sounds amazing, right?   Well,  I have a coupon you can use.  :)

Comments

[Sue R.]

Oh Pam. You should submit this piece to a women's magazine or something. It's so well written. Even though I've long been released from the rearing of my four children (now ages 27 - 40), your thoughts brought up all kinds of "I-so-know-what-you-mean" feelings. You're such a good writer! Oh, and knitter and shop owner too!

[Jean McLenigan]

Love your blog! I am in the eye of the hurricane myself right now. In fact, planning the trip to bring my youngest--my deaf son--up to Rochester Institute of Technology/National Technical Institute for the Deaf brought me to your website. I've made it a goal this year to visit and give some business to all the LYS's I can, the economy being what it is these days. Unfortunately, I may not make it to your store this trip, since you're closed on Sundays and Mondays in the summer. I'll be sure to keep you in mind for future trips, though.