Happy New Year!

Wow... only three weeks until the new school year begins. My eight-year-old is getting excited although he vehemently denies he likes school -- of course this is the child who WON'T miss school because he wants the perfect attendence certificate. He's also wondering when we're doing our back-to-school shopping.

It's also this time of year that I would write my famous "It's not January 1, but it feels like the New Year" editorial in my former life as the editor of a local newspaper. The thought was that it always seems to be that back-to-school days were more of the beginning of the new year rather than January 1. It's time to declutter, change over clothes, make new goals, start a diet or exercise regiment, etc. In fact, as I sit here I am also planning my To-Do list for tomorrow, which includes some major cleaning around the house. (Have you done the 15-minute Flylady challenge? Set the timer and go file, make the beds, clean the kitchen, whatever, and when the buzzer rings you will most likely already be done. You can even race against the clock.)

It's amazing... it wasn't that long ago that I wrote that editorial, that I quit that job to have Brady, that I carried Brady for nine months not realizing that something was up with this kid. It was a normal pregnancy; in fact I didn't gain too much weight during it (all right, I was a little heavier than I should have been to start with!). It wasn' t that long ago that Tom and I chatted about names or when we went for the ultrasound to see what we were having. And here we are, coming up to almost a year in two more months and it seems now to have flown by.

Heck, I look at Michael and wonder where this eight-year-old came from. Kindergarten had seemed so far away, now we're talking about third grade. Wasn't he just walking?? Watching Brady has made me realize how old Michael is and how fast time has flown by. In a sense, it's a little miracle that we have Brady as a baby longer than average, even though I don't doubt he will do all the things he is supposed to do.


I figured Brady's baby days would be like Michael's... a happy-go -lucky baby, sleeping through the night almost from the start, eating anything and everything, walking early, and chatting up a storm. Brady sure taught me many lessons... never assume, be happy with what you have, and enjoy the present are just a few of the ones I can think of now. But the boys are similiar in many ways. Brady goes with the groove as does Michael, he's willing to try any food at least once, and he's always there to make me smile. I can't imagine having Brady any other way than how he is.