Something's wrong.... it's too quiet around here!

He's gone.

My little buddy left me this morning at 8:15 for school.

3rd grade! I REMEMBER 3rd grade!!!! I was way older than my little guy when I was in 3rd grade! (Ok, not really... it's not like I was held back in kindergarten until I was 12 or anything!) But, in my head I was older.

I found out his old girlfriend is in his class this year. They have been "together" since kindergarten, except for a little bump in their "relationship" last spring when he accidentally hit her in the head with a ball at recess and they broke up. (this is insane! I never did this when I was a kid! Ok, there was that Eddie Fisher incident in 3rd grade when I screamed out over the kick-soccer field that I loved him and wanted to be the mother of his children. He avoided me after that for some odd reason. Hmmm..... can't think why.)

After the ball incident he wasted no time asking another girl to be his girlfriend. When they saw eachother during the summer one day she shyly whispered "are we still... you know?" to which he replied coolly, "Ya. It's not over until I say it's over." Kinda freaky, actually. Like that afterschool special when the boyfriend doesn't want his girlfriend to leave him so he threatens to kill her. Still, I wanted to laugh, but couldn't let him know I had heard, you know. I want him to feel comfortable coming to me someday to let me know he is interested in a girl and may want to.... hold her hand. (I expect that won't be until he's at least.... 30... but it's good to be prepared, right?)

So, who knows what drama will unfold today when Kristin finds out he's "with" the other girl, or if he'll just toss the new girl aside. This is WAY more interesting than "Days of Our Lives" ever was! Well, except for when Marlena got amnesia, or was it abducted by aliens? I can't remember exactly. I missed a lot of Psych 101 because of that, though.

I will wait on the edge of the couch for when my little guy comes home today. (Yes, He has asked me if I will please let him walk home alone. He didn't say it was too embarrassing to have me pick him up yet, so that's good. And he even gave me a kiss when I left him at school today, albeit a very short one, and he took off running after his friends as soon as it was finished. I think they understood, though. They also had moms not ready to release them from their duty as a good son. They gave him a look as if to say- "Ya, dude- we got at least another year, too, before our mom's can make it through the day without a goodbye kiss. I hear ya-"

So? What will I do with my new-found solitude? Well, I've got 15 tomato plants overflowing with ripe juicy tomatoes, and a pile of ironing I've put off for about 2 weeks, so there'll be no sitting on the side of the bathtub with my head in my hands sobbing over the loss of my baby to the jaws of that great and spacious building down the street. Not this year.

There is a bit of peace that comes from knowing I won't have to entertain, give orders, remind not to do somethings, remind to do other things, poke, prod, and generally lose my patience all too early in the morning anymore. That doesn't come until 3! For now, I think I'll just enjoy the peace and quiet- and then get back to work.