Sad news, everyone. Annabelle starts school in a month.

Let’s all have a moment of silence to process our grief.

I don’t know how this is happening since just last week she looked like this.

I know she’ll love it but I’ll so sad at the thought of her being away from me for 12 hours a week. Christopher likes to point out that it’s ONLY 12 but he’s much less emotional than I am. We spend all day, every day together and while I frequently wish I had family around to give me a break, knowing she won’t be around three mornings a week is too much for my delicate heart. I (not really) jokingly said I might park outside the playground and watch her play with the kids. Christopher said that’s a terrible idea and the police might get involved. There he goes again with being reasonable. Of course, 12 hours a week gives me plenty of times for naps and manicures so it might work out for both of us. (Yes, I did go through this when she started MDO and yes, I ended up loving it. Let me have my moment of despair before I shout my love of school from the rooftop.)

All that to say, I’m trying to pack in as much fun before school starts as we can. On Friday we had a Mommy Sesame Date. Normally we got to Dunkin Donuts (inside instead of drivethru because I like to keep our life spicy) but this time we got Chickfila. It goes without saying that it was in the high 90s but we’re stuck inside so much because of the heat I was determined to have a picnic. I was hoping for a nice picture but this is the look your child gives when you put your picnic blanket down on a pile of ant hills.

After the picnic, we went to a small gift shop to pick up a baby gift. Every so often I like to take her into such stores as a way to practice self-control and good behavior etc, but I wonder if it’s worth it when all I have to keep up a running commentary on do’s and don’ts. “Don’t touch! Look but don’t pick up! You can touch with one finger. Isn’t this pretty?  You can hold a towel since those don’t break. Watch where you’re going! Don’t bump into that table! Ok, let’s wrap this trip up.” Such a relaxing way to browse the store.

That evening we played hospital for the 56th time that week. She’s is very into Doc McStuffins and has started her own Doc McSesame hospital in the living room. All her stuffed animals are patients and she gives us the option of being a med student, a chef or an entertainer. After we pick she decides she doesn’t like our choice so she tries to reassign us as ambulance drivers or nursery watchers. Without fail she informs us that we’re not doing the job correctly. “But Mama! Stuffy doesn’t talk to patients like that!” It’s tough to be a hospital employee. The hours are erratic, the benefits terrible. Good thing the boss is cute.

Pre hospital ball where we all wore blue and entertained the patients.