Sept 8 - First day of sixth grade and middle school at Blair! Round trip to drop him off was about an hour, which is great given the traffic and bus shenanigans

Sept 8 - As of today, Ian is in a building with other children and adults for 6.5 hours each weekday! My house is blissfully quiet!

Sept 10 - (on motorcycle) I told Ian if he couldn’t find me for after school pickup today, he wasn’t looking.

Sept 13 - Ian: “What’s with the bucket of fabric on the table?”
Thus begins our journey into cloth napkins …

Sept 15 - Ian started hockey yesterday, and while the parents can’t seem to understand how masks work (don’t tell me your 8yo mite player is vaccinated), we had a great time. He played well, he had fun, he packed and unpacked on his own. My job was just to drive, pay for jerseys, and buy him drive thru second dinner. I read an actual book in the lobby!

Sept 15 - School is going great for Ian. It’s such a joy to see him easily navigating middle school after a year and a half of virtual school and quarantine. It’s also a big win to be able to text him and find him for pick up. Modern problems require modern solutions.

Sept 15 - Ian requested that I update everyone on his second day of hockey practice. He got dressed and packed his bag at home. We drove to the rink and I didn’t even go inside, but just stopped the car enough for him to roll out.

Stella and I walked 1.5 miles around the neighborhood and then settled in to wait in the parking lot. Just as I left to pick up second dinner, I got a call from the rink. It was Ian calling from the snack bar.

“Hi, Mom. I started to go low so I had to get off the ice early. Are you still outside?”

I doubled back and we got him some food and a drink. He was a bit weepy when I picked him up, apologizing for leaving early. I told him he did everything exactly right and we’ll get his sugars dialed in better for suicides on skates by next week.

I know that feeling of having to stop something you were enjoying because of low blood sugar all too well. He was sniffling in the passenger seat, “I was having so much fun I didn’t want to stop!”

Bags are unpacked, washer is loaded, and Ian just finished his shower. He did so great. The coaches were nice to him and the rink staff were wonderful. I’m still just driving, buying stuff, and picking up second dinner.

Sept 22 - We bought two IKEA cubbies so Ian can store his sweatshirts and more books in his room. He and I assembled them together and it went well.
Ian loves school and hockey and it warms my heart every day to hear about it. That kid is pretty great.