School's Out!

Yesterday was the last day of Mother's Day Out ("school") for both The Boy and The Girl. The Boy will go on to pre-kindergarten at Parkview Lutheran School next year, so yesterday marked the end of his year and of his time at the program. The Girl goes back again next year. I spent my last four-hour block of kid-free time buying a new carrier for The Baby at Be By Baby, going to Trader Joe's, and doing some things at home. The Baby has gained about one pound per week since his birth. He was eight pounds at birth; he's nine-weeks-old. You do the math on that one. And then think about carrying that around for hours every day. Ouch.

After MDO, we hosted playgroup at our house. It was so much fun! Our playgroup has been pretty disjointed this year, as the first generation of kids all started preschool this year. Two of The Boy's playgroup friends were in his MDO program at the start of the year, but one left mid-year to attend tuition-based pre-K at Ravenswood. Plus, of the original seven member moms, two are now in the suburbs and one moved out of state. We have invited others to join in their stead, but many of them have moved or are in the process of moving as well. We now have almost as many members outside the city as we have inside its borders.

But summer is the great equalizer for playgroup, and based on yesterday's turnout, summer has begun! July marks the fourth anniversary of our playgroup's formation. It was great to see all of The Boy's and The Girl's little friends and The Baby's future friends, and catch up with my friends. I had snacks and drinks, and the kids played inside with toys and outside with the sand table, water table, and climber and slide.