Hanging on…

Eric called this morning at 5:30 AM by accidental time zone miscalculation. I don’t mind; it was wonderful to wake up with him in my ear. But then I spent the rest of the morning feeling more bereft than usual. MOPS this morning discussed friendships, which first had me missing Alysia, and then switched to how our husbands are our best friends, which…didn’t help my mood, to say the least.

Sam’s home early, which helps liven things up. Unfortunately, I couldn’t take the opportunity to sweep the boys off to someplace fun, because we have some sort of “student-led conference” in a little while. I have no idea what this is all about; it sounds as though the teachers are only participating on the sidelines, while the kids take us through what they’ve been doing and discuss what they’ve done well and what has been a struggle. (Pretty sure it’s part of this, which his school continues to pursue.) I wish I could have done it without Gabe, or that Eric was here to participate, but if wishes were horses, we’d have to hire a lot more street cleaners.

It’ll be interesting to see if there are any surprises, which I sincerely doubt. I mean, if a teacher were leading this, I’d be prepared for some, since perceptions vary widely, but Sam has never held back on what his feelings are about his work. He loves science and social studies; he hates math, except for a few of the factor families (“The three and five times tables are fun!” he says). He likes gym, but gives me the impression that he prefers the rough-and-tumble parts over the follow-the-rules parts. If anything unusual crops up, it’s going to be something straight out of the woodwork, but I don’t think it will.

Hope Gabe cooperates. He’s been in a mood all day, beginning with howls over clothing, complaints over breakfast, deep questions about how to help the poor and hungry when I was struggling to get him out of the car at MOPS (what the heck?), tantrums about not eating lunch at a restaurant, and now incredible bossiness directed at Sam, which can’t end well. I think that’s my cue…