Ladies, Start Your Engines

This picture has nothing to do with anything

except to remind me of sweet, relaxing days in the sunshine.

I hear the peepers in the yard, which means spring is really going to come. It also means the snakes will come, since peepers are a tasty snake snack, but I am trying really hard to squelch that thought. Squelching is my primary coping skill, much to Rusty's delight, because otherwise

incessantly asking him for reassurance is my second choice.

So I am denying the existence of slithery wildlife in my yard, and trying to focus instead on the joy of the birds chirping, the longer sunny days, the gentle breezes, and lots of quality time in the car.

Yep, in the car, because that is where spring will find me.

Shuttling girls from soccer, to field hockey, to lacrosse, to theater.

We dropped what felt like a small fortune

on new cleats, sticks, balls, shin guards, socks,

and stick bags and I am now planning lots of portable meals,

so we won't spend what is left of our 401K on meals out.

Have mercy- I hope the girls like wraps!

Since tonight is the first practice of the season (lacrosse),

today is my kick off day. I am loading the van with my mom chair

(the new deluxe model I got last year that has a cup holder and a flip up table for my sweet tea- woohoo),

a rubbermaid container with homework essentials

so we can do schoolwork between practices,

blankets, extra snacks, trash bags, and lots of paper towels.

At this stage of parenting I feel like I have regressed to my diaper bag days,

although now it is a Lands End's jumbo canvas bag

stuffed to overflowing with travel necessities and extra jackets.

All this preparation has become a springtime rite of passage, like turning forward the clocks Saturday night, and I am almost as excited as the girls. Running into friends and their moms at Play It Again Sports, we are all in the same stage of readiness, swapping Parks & Rec horror stories, guessing at sizes, and lamenting the chaos about to take over.

But we really don't mind, it is the tween Mom version of sleeping through the night and labor stories. Every phase of parenting provides fodder for commiseration and encouragement, and this stage provides lots of shared time on the sidelines, sharing sunscreen and crazy tales

of minivans filled with fast food wrappers and water bottles.

I frequently smile, as I swoop into a parking lot already filled with minivans and SUV's,

and see the other moms and kids tumbling out, loaded down and rushing to make it to the field on time, thinking how blessed I am to be a member of this Mom club, at every age.

So come on Spring, bring it on!

This is my season to shine and I'm ready to play!