The Twouble with Tweens

This year my youngest started kindergarten. I'm toying with getting a job starting in January (i.e. the start of the spring college semester). I couldn't really start this fall because we had a family wedding/vacation to attend, and I didn't want to start a new job and then cause trouble by leaving for over a week. In the meantime, I thought I'd enjoy having time to be alone in the house. You know--to clean, declutter, muck out the kids' rooms when they aren't here to see what I'm removing. Oh, and EXERCISE. Ha! OK, I might have the time if I made it, but I'm lazy at heart and, really, kindergarten just isn't long enough. Plus, I'm just not in any hurry whatsoever to try to figure out how to manage my oldest son's activities. Shoot, I'd put the youngest in after-school daycare in a heartbeat, but who's going to pick the 7th grader up at school at 3:30 pm (when most of the one-hour-after-school extra-curricular activities end)?

That said, one of the reasons I don't have a lot of free time in the mornings is that I started volunteering at the middle school library two mornings per week. I love libraries. I'm thinking about going back to grad school and getting a Master of Library Science degree. Libraries ROCK!! I originally thought I'd volunteer in the elementary school library. But, then, I realized that there are lots of Mommies hanging out at the elementary school, while the middle school has trouble getting people to volunteer for anything. Plus, I figured I owed it to my oldest to give him the first shot, since I had these darned babies the whole time he was in elementary school, and couldn't conveniently come in and volunteer there (Note: Yes, the Mommies will tell me that I could have just brought my toddler with me. No way. Is it really helpful to a teacher or to the PTA book fair if you volunteer-avec-toddler?). All right, and, I'll admit it--the middle school just opened in August and the library is freaking gorgeous!

But, I ramble. I've been having fun at the library. I'm organizing the card catalog, which they still want to use as a learning tool, but haven't been able to keep up to date due to staffing issues. I go in, I grab my work, and I get to it. The librarian and her assistant are nice, the kids come in and out. It's all very pleasant, but mindless. In other words, it's relaxing.

And, the funny thing is that, as many fights as we have over homework; as many times as we tussle over chores or behavior towards parents and younger brothers; as many times as I am subject to that Tween Attitude on Steroids...my son comes to see me every day that I'm in there.

And that's my Silver Lining for today.