Simon’s Last Day
Yesterday was Simon’s last day of Hedgerow, his preschool. What made this day strange and sad for Debbie and I is the fact that we’ve always had another boy waiting in the wings to start Hedgerow in the fall. Fact is, we are all out of kids. We feel blessed that Miss Beth who started Hedgerow has been the 1st teacher all 5 of our boys have had. It’s a magical loving place for a magical age. I guess that is what the sad part is. As much as we love our kids and try to make their lives filled with magic like reading stories to them before bed, making sure the tooth fairy remembers to come and taking them surfing, we both know we can’t move the clock backwards. Our magic is transforming itself into getting them to tennis practice, taking them to their 1st Hitchcock film at the Aero theatre and buying Fiske’s Guide to College for them. Yesterday, we asked Simon if he was sad that this was his last day of Hedgerow and that he would be starting kindergarten in the fall at a new school. He looked at us like he just didn’t understand why this was supposed to be sad. I guess he’s right. It’s our sadness not his. At pick up at 2:00 I crept into Hedgerow. Usually the shades are drawn and the “nappers” (Simon included) are waking up slowly yawning and picking their noses. Today, nobody was napping. They were either in the pool or running around the garden. Simon gave his friend Zane a big hug and said, “Let’s go!”
Back Home
Current Weather
A job well done in Miami. Bags, cameras, laptops, tower and monitor all packed up. The job is backed up and ready to ship. Rental car is returned. We’re trudging our way through security and then the unthinkable happens. One of the Cuban sandwiches we bought from Los Olas Cafe in Miami doesn’t make it through x-ray. I look in the bag and it’s true. Only one Cuban sandwich has made the journey. I ask the TSA guy behind the x-ray machine, “Where’s the sandwich?” He says, “It fell out of the bag and into the trash.” I look at him suspiciously. He gives me look that says, “Don’t mess with me jerk.” There’s mild rumbling coming from the people behind us and I decide to leave it alone. I’m going home.
All Packed Up
It’s Friday. Back in South Beach, the rhythmic shenanigans on the streets are probably in full swing. Here at home,  it’s the Hedgerow (Simon’s school) lantern walk. There’s 4 pots of homemade soup on the Coleman stoves, fresh bread and the kids  are singing and swinging  their homemade lanterns through the damp fall evening.
Simon on the Stoop
It’s great to be home. After 2 weeks of being away the garden has become overgrown and there’s a long list of things to do: fix the pine chest, make Ollie’s tooth fairy mobile, investigate funky smells coming from upstairs shower, repair doorknobs which have fallen off whilst children are slamming doors in fits of anger, repair piano bench, plane cabinet in sun porch so it doesn’t scrape on our new floors, clean wood burning stove, fix outdoor shower head, patch deck with Bondo, buy Applecare for laptop, work on Christmas card so it’s sent out before Christmas. Mainly the list consists of fixing things that the boys have broken while  I was gone. I start repairs and  checking stuff off the list. At Simons’ swim lesson, where whatever the instructor says to do, whether it’s float on your back or circle your arms over your head, he just bounces up and down in the pool with a huge smile on his face. That’s it. That’s all he does. I’m thinking one of these days he’s going to put it all together. I get a call from Debbie to tell me that Ollie has just broken an upstairs window. Sheez.
Before
They sort of know us at Economy Glass. When we moved in 14 years ago I watched one of their guys as he replaced  a cracked window in our living room. I asked questions and took mental notes not realizing that there were going to be 5 boys running around this old house (inside and out) launching projectiles and that repairing broken windows would become part of my job description as Daddy.
After
The window is fixed . It’s starting to rain. Theo and Henry just got home from a watching a touch football game between their school, Ocean Charter and their old school Westside Waldorf School. They battled to a 28-28 tie. It’s Cheeseburger night. Ollie lost his playdate with Elijah for breaking the window. Halloween is right around the corner and I’m taking Theo to Disneyland for the 1st time on Friday. It’s good to be home.
