Back to School, Back to Work

Maura, Jennifer and I had a very pleasant Labor Day Weekend to finish off our summer. Jennifer and I did some work around the house and Maura spent hours playing outside with her friends in the neighborhood. We went to the Tolman MDA Telethon Party at Congregation Sha’aray Shalom in Hingham. We had a good time enjoying the company of friends and helped to raise money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. Maura jumped in a bouncy house while the adults listened to live music. There may be an outing to hear Bon Jovi tribute band Living on a Bad Name sometime in our future, but we probably will leave Maura with a babysitter when we go. After the telethon party we had our friends the Tittlers and the Longs over for dinner. I made feijoada (black beans with pork), a favorite dish from my childhood when I lived in Brazil. It was much appreciated by all the adults present and by Maura, who likes my cooking.

Now that Labor Day is over Maura is back in school. She started the fourth grade on Tuesday. Maura couldn’t wait to go back. She missed her friends from school. She hasn’t seen most of them since June. She’s also been a bit bored, especially since we came back from Indiana. We have lots of fun when we go off on adventures but we can’t have an adventure every day. Summer for Maura has been quite long enough.

It’s been long enough for me too. I’m probably even more ready for Maura to go back to school than she is to be going back. I always enjoy the time we spend together on outings and we find plenty to do together when we stay home but I find Maura distracting. When she is around it is difficult to concentrate and very hard to give my work the attention it needs. When Maura is in school I enjoy the hours of quiet and the freedom from interruption. While Maura is getting back to her books I will be getting back to work on mine.