Like I Have Time For This?

Thursday was a trip to the library and then Park Day with our homeschool club. Friday was King Tut at the museum. Saturday was pony rides in the morning….

The remainder of the weekend was devoted to dishes, laundry, and repeated incidents of accidentally stepping on my 6-year-old who kept wrapping herself up in sheets and blankets and stretching out on the floor pretending to be Hatshepsut’s mummy.

By the end of the day, with the kids finally in bed, I thought I was finally done with all the dishes, but then (like a fool) I decided to tidy up the livingroom, and in the process I found another sinkful of dishes scattered all over the place. Not to mention another half-load of laundry. But to hell with it. My feet are killing me, and I’m just gonna make some popcorn and put my feet up and read.

We’re having a plain old regular school week here. Good thing. I need the rest.

Dear Soon-To-Arrive Nephew (or Niece):

Just a quick note to say thanks for not arriving yesterday. Believe me, we are all really looking forward to your arrival (especially your mom), but if you had arrived today, I might have had to miss this incredible exhibit at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia:

Unfortunately, taking photographs was prohibited inside the exhibit, so I don’t have any other photos to share with you today, but I don’t want you to be disappointed by this lack of photos.

You should know that your mom and dad already think so much of you (and your big sister) and your potential for happiness and your simple human right to experience the fullness of life, that they have already decided to homeschool both of you. This means that even if the King Tut Exhibit never returns to this country ever again, that’s okay, because it’s quite likely that someday both our homeschooling families will all take a trip to Egypt together and see everything your cousins and your uncle and I saw today, not to mention all the stuff we didn’t get to see.

I’ll hold your hand if you’re still young enough for me to get away with it, and I’ll point out all the things I saw today when we see them again together, and I’ll say to you, this is what I saw right before you were born. 

And your uncle will tell the story of how your little cousin got so excited when she saw the small statue of Tutankhamun and her daddy said to her: that’s a little boy who lived 3,000 years ago and he became a king that she kept wanting to go back and see that statue again and again and again.

And I’ll try to explain to you how it felt to watch your older cousin circle around each display, hands resting reverently on the thick glass, seeing each history lesson we’d read in the last few months coming to life right in front of her.

And while I was doing all that today, my thoughts never strayed too far from you and your impending arrival. So, in a way, you were there too. You and your sister and your mom and dad. And I promise you that some day I’ll take you to the science museum because even though Tut won’t be there, there’s still lots of great Kid Science things to do there. This is homeschooling at its finest, and trust me, you’re really, really going to love it.

All my love to you,

Aunt RegularMom