The alarm goes off and I slowly roll over to press snooze… only to realize, I can just turn it off. Both girls are sleeping soundly and I am warm and snuggly.

This is the first time that the end of summer does not affect my mornings. Bee and Butterfly sleep comfortably while Bunny gets ready with his dad… and off they go.

The end of the summer has come and gone without a whisper of change. The end used to be kicked off/wound down/rolled out with the Labor Day parties. The kids would return the next day. Yet, now it’s endless calendar watching, checking mail, wondering when and why your school starts on a Tuesday, while others still start on Thursday.

The end of the summer for the past few years have been full of worry and anxiety as I shop for school supplies, only to be told that my son didn’t need all of that stuff, the school used a compiled list from “teachers”, not from his specific teacher. Did I overspend? What can I return? Of course, the teacher doesn’t actually let us know what he doesn’t need.

Now, the local county schools require uniforms, where cost is only minimized by the quantity or frequency of laundry I want to be subjected to.

Growing up, it was all about getting the perfect backpack. Now, it’s about making sure that the classroom has enough supplies to operate.

Since summers no longer consist of kids playing outside until the lights come home, the time I spend trying to “entertain” my children is exhausting. Is it enough? Can I afford it? Do I have the time? Do I have the energy?

By the end of the summer, I just want to send all of my children off to enjoy their new playmates and enjoy a glass (or few) of wine. Even though my children are all tucked away in their beds, I’m still frazzled.

I received an and the first TWO bottles, I didn’t do it right! I mean, it’s a bottle opener, how hard could it be? Well, it wasn’t, but I was completely over thinking it. There’s one button that you can choose to go up or down. For some reason in my overwhelmed mind, I thought you had to push down, then up to take it out. Nope, all you had to do is push down until the cork was out!

I only drank one bottle, but you could uncork up to 40 bottles on one charge.  I just have 39 more bottles to get through! I have a couple of bottles in the fridge and a couple on the rack. The foil cutter means I can get the bottles open faster and the aerator means that the cheaper stuff will taste better (*wink, wink*) Who wants to come over?

The end of summer brings up distant memories of playing with the many friends that I did not see over the summer. Now, I dream of the solitude of an empty house and nap time, where I can either get some rest, take a nap or work.

At the end of each summer, I always feel… WONDER.

WONDER… at how my children have grown another year.
WONDER… what the new year holds.
WONDER… if we did enough over the summer.
WONDER… if my children remember this summer.
WONDER… how I managed to get through the summer with so much less “stuff”.
WONDER… how I lived without my little ones.

This has been another edition of Finish the Sentence Friday: At the end of each summer, I always feel…