The Return to College

At the beginning of the summer, I was so happy to have Homo studentus universitatus (HSU) back in the nest (minus the mess) and all three of my kids around. At the same time, I was already thinking about having to send HSU back to the place where the species thrives and I was dreading that another one of my offspring would morph into this creature. Don’t get me wrong, the rewards of having the species around are substantial… happy noises in a quiet house, my credit card feeling so fully and vibrantly alive, an accumulation of funny creature photos on my digital camera, a window into a complex society of social primates. Alas, the Homo studentus summer season is brief. No matter how much they have enjoyed the family nest, mom’s cooking and use of their own bathrooms, they will return to college and bide their time until their winter migration back. I, for one, look forward to their return!

HSU returns home from college...

The Homo studentus universitatus (HSU) has acclimated to its summer surroundings. The appearance of a large pile of dirty laundry in the corner of its dwelling is present. Plastic bins from its college habitat are still strewn about its territory and all flat surfaces are covered with its belongings. The bed covers are never on the bed so I’m not really sure where it has been sleeping but there are signs of slumber on various couches. When I wake up in the morning, I find evidence of what it ate during the night all over the counters in the kitchen (and on the floor).

Communication is limited with its parental units except when it is asking for the car or “What’s for dinner”. I’m assuming this is because its highly evolved brain can’t be weighed down with mundane questions like “How come you can’t hang up your clothes?” When I ask this, HSU just seems to shrug, like it has a weird itch on its back. No, I guess that brain is for churning out high GPA’s in the quest of getting into graduate school or landing a high paying job where you don’t have to work much.

Museum of Science with Diane and her kids!

Summer is such a great time to get out and explore new things! There happened to be a whale exhibit at the Museum of Science in Boston, so I took the kids. You can tell, the kids were caught at a dull moment in the photo! I can assure you that they ran around the exhibit having a great time! They crawled in and out of a model whale heart (an adult and 3 other kids were in there together), and listened to eerie whale songs. Such a cool place!

Deb's take on Modern Art

So I traveled to Washington, DC once again but this time to attend my 25^th dental school reunion. While I was there I went to the Hirshhorn (contemporary art) Museum. Now I’m not a big fan of contemporary art but I like to go and chuckle at what critics call “Brilliant!” Picture this…as part of the exhibit, a film clip was playing of naked women painting the front of their bodies with blue paint and then pressing themselves against a canvas making body prints. The artist (Yves Klein, French), wanted these “living brushes” to record the body’s cosmic energy. Needless to say, I had to pull my husband away from this exhibit! The poor artist died at 34yo of a heart attack…I wonder if it was due to the same heart palpations my husband was feeling while in the museum!

Dance Recitals and Summer Picnics

Summer's officially here with school out for most kiddos, including my 3 year old who celebrated her last day in Country Village Montessori School with a school-wide/family picnic. Pigtails commemorated the day (act of Congress - read on) and my son also had a great time roaming the playyard! Another clue that summer abounds - it's dance recital season, and our last Baby Ballet class at Kathy Blake's

was a dress rehearsal. Our first ever miniature bun! Sparkly hair gel! Tutu!!! She barely lets me comb her hair in the morning, so I prayed that the bun up-do would be straightforward... (Remember, you're reading the blog from the lady who wears no makeup, and hasn't bought hair gel in decades.) We survived and she loved her little red lips too!

Summer migration of Homo studentus universitatus

Well the summer migration has occurred. We traveled to Colgate University to collect our Homo studentus universitatus (HSU) We left Manchester optimistic albeit a bit tired. Our second son had his senior prom the night before. Tim had his friends over for a pre-prom gathering complete with parents, clicking cameras, endless cleavage (why don’t I remember seeing cleavage at my prom?) and luckily no breezes to create havoc with hem lines! They all looked so grown up and everyone got home safe and sound!

Upon arriving at HSU’s dorm, we noted incredible chaos. Trash littered the hallways, mold spores emanated from the carpets, beer bottles stacked in the corners (I thought the drinking age was 21yo??). I had to use the rest room but decided against it because I was afraid of the plague. We did get out of there in one piece but I’m not sure whose stuff we actually took home. I did not recognize some of it! We looked like the Clampets traveling down the NY Thruway with the windows open, while it was raining, because the stench was overpowering. I was anxious to get home and dreading it at the same time!

Having little kids is so great!

Having little kids is so great! I love the wonder on their faces when they discover something new! In the recent hot weather, I broke out the ole sprinkler. I took it forgranted that a 3 year old and a 19 month old have no idea what this is for (outside of watering the grass)! After watching them transfixed on the metronomic back and forth, I decided in full civvies that I had to be their fearless mommy. Off I leapt into the chilling cold, with streaks of water marked in my clothes! My son took off after me with glee and even stuck his face in it with me! My daughter, however, required a piggy back ride through the water, as she does not like getting wet! Oh to be young again!