This is a re-post from a personal blog I wrote on from 05 -09. Tonight, is the last Sunday of summer. Bill goes back to 
school and Samantha does too, tomorrow. The routine starts again. Our neighborhood has grown (obnoxiously) and instead of 5th grade, my daughter is in 10th. What was new home carpet….is now GROSS and begging to be replaced. We are married now, our son is a sophomore in college and our dogs are all super senior pups now. Our marriage is better, I work for myself now, and Bill is just 3.5 years from retirement (26 years teaching in Leander Independent School District).
I’m almost 40 instead of closer to 30. I’m more me than I was back then and appreciate the years that have passed, even if they did come with a few fluffy pounds and a few more lines around the eyes. When I wrote this…I remember smelling the smell of my childhood. The neighborhood shutting down early because…well….it was a school night.
Today, I went to the hospital where my mom is for a few weeks. A stubborn infection in her toe that won’t heal and so they are doing surgery so that the infection doesn’t get to her bones. Interesting that I wrote about how my mom used to wash my hair at the kitchen sink. Today, I washed my moms hair in the hospital. It was my turn to take care of her and it ripped my heart open in a beautiful way. I was able to give her the tenderness and love she gave me back in those days.
And after these 5 years…going on 6… or is it really 35 going on 36…..school nights still smell.
tomorrow is the first day of school. summer break is over and bill and the kids have to go back now. i really have no change in my routine, except that won’t be the only one up early in the morning for the next 9 months.
i love school nights. there is something about the early shut down, the end of day organization and prep for tomorrow…reminds me of something in my childhood. after a bath that would wash away the excitement of a small girls day, i would pajama-up and then meet mom in the kitchen. she had a towel laid out on the counter and another to couch my head and neck. then she would wash my hair gently in the kitchen sink. of course the shampoo was followed by a “set.” there in front of her tv, while we watched some show, she would dipdy-do and pin curl my long, long, blonde hair.
i can smell the clean. i can smell the evening time. i can see the green gel and feel the soft touch of my mothers hands in my hair….and somewhere else in the room, 3 other clean and pajama-ed siblings.
as an adult, with so much to do, think about, with all the media bombardment and over-stimulation, i’m thankful for a little moment that brings me back to the smell of school nights.
