A half acre ain't gonna be enough..

There have been many creature funerals at our house. Everything from the cat who came before the kids to a praying mantis that was killed with kindness. The mice are buried on the wild back hill, the fish went, um, down the toilet, and the lizards have their own well-populated rocky area near the cactus.

Today I discovered a private burial site for something I didn't even know ranked it's own funeral.

My youngest daughter's favorite plaything all weekend was a balloon with a gobstopper inside. Who knows the appeal? All I remember is it watched TV and slept with her for several days. I'm sure that I've mentioned in the past that she's a combination of immature for her age and also very nurturing?

Anyway, unfortunately, on Monday after school, it met the end the way most balloons do. It popped unexpectedly, scared the shit out of all living things within range, and the gobstopper disappeared under the dusty recesses of some (yet to be identified) piece of furniture.

I saw her tear up, but how much sympathy can I muster for a balloon that just about stopped my heart? I breezed over her disappointment and got on with whatever important Mom thing (facebook) I was doing.

My sweet little thing handled it in her own way...there are now two new headstones in the yard with fresh flowers scatted in front of them. One for "ballooney" and one for "gobbey". They even post the day and year (month excluded) of their demise and a RIP rounds out the epitaph. How touching in a strange little girl sort of way...Love ya Mads.

And, yes, like my sister-in-law suggested, I may need a bigger yard soon.

My favorite season.

OK, so my spawn have returned to school.
Fourth day now to be exact.
I can run around accomplishing the mundane tasks of "wife and mom" without any input from the peanut gallery about when we should leave Costco or just how many errands is too many in one outing.
Big sigh of relief.
I can browse the net without someone reading over my shoulder and, today, I turned the car stereo WAY up and listened to a whole damn song without interruption.
Another whew.
One problem.
I keep making comments out loud, like maybe someone is listening.
Is it possible that I..gasp..miss them!
That's crazy!
Have they evolved enough from the needy hell that is baby and toddler that I now might actually LIKE having them around?
Oh, shit, I just looked at the time, I only have an hour left before school pick-up.
That's nowhere near enough physical and mental space for one day.
I take it all back, thank god for school.