It’s hard to believe it’s that time again, time to put the kids on the bus and have my days free from playing Cruise Director and breaking up fights. I’ve been ready for the new school year for weeks now, I thrive on routine and I never seemed to find one this summer.

Last summer was rough on all of us; me stuck on the couch for most of it, the kids stuck in the house and Bill trying to take care of it all while running his fledgling company.

In comparison, this summer kicked ass!

We spent a lot of time down in Maryland soaking in the sun and fun on the Chesapeake. The boys swam in the ocean for the first time. We got a dog. This summer ROCKED!

But the school year is here and the boys are now walking into school as first and fourth graders. Um, how am I old enough to have a first and fourth grader?

They said they weren’t excited but I could tell by the looks on their faces (and the early wakeup) that they are ready to roll.

Even though I’m excited for the school year to begin I miss them. I’m sitting here wondering what they’re doing and if they’re OK? Have they reunited with their friends? Will Cameron look after his little brother?

I will be at the bus stop (with Cooper) anxiously awaiting the stories from the day.

Have you sent your little people back to school yet?

Little Cheater!

Cameron gets board very easily which makes getting him to focus on school work difficult at times. He’s a smart kid, when he applies himself he’s amazingly intelligent.

At the beginning of the school year Cameron was really into his spelling tests. He worked hard and studied and loved when we would get all excited over perfect tests. Then he lost interest.

Every week getting him to study became a struggle. He was getting all the regular spelling words correct each week but they’re easy words for him. The challenge words were giving him a challenge and he had no interest in stepping up to that challenge.

I had the brilliant idea to bribe him to study. I told him that if he got all the regular words AND the challenge words right I would take him out and let him pick out a new Transformer.

He studied and worked on his words but there was one he was having trouble with.

A few weeks prior he had gotten a word marked wrong that was correct but never mentioned it to the teacher. I may be a mean mom but I told him that it was wrong because he had mixed his upper and lower case letters. I told Cameron before he left for school that if he thought he had gotten a word correct and it was marked wrong to talk to his teacher. Those were the last words I spoke before I said , “I love you” as he got on the bus.

He got off the bus and the first thing I asked was how he did. He got them all right but his teacher had marked it wrong. Or so he said.

That’s right folks, he changed the answer and then changed the grade on the front. You can clearly see eraser marks and his pencil must have been sharper the second time around. Did he talk to the teacher? Nope.

My bribe had backfired. He was so desperate to get that toy that he was willing to cheat to get there.

The fact that he would compromise his integrity for a toy has me a more than a little upset. Where did I go wrong?

Needless to say he did not get a new Transformer. He also lost his TV and iPad privileges for the week.

Have your kids ever been less than honest to try to get something from you?