in the hunter-gatherer sense of the word

As of this morning, I am the mother of a second-grader. Excuse me while I gather my internal organs. They seem to have exited my body.

Part of this morning’s first day of school activities included the annual picture. Every year for the past four years, we’ve taken a picture of the baby on the front porch. And every year I screw up the perspective entirely so that it’s hard to look at the pictures from year to year and get a good sense of his growth. Case in point:

First Day of School Montage, 2009 (version 2)

Top row: pre-K, kindergarten
Bottom row: 1st grade, 2nd grade

You have to adjust and notice that his legs are about 500 feet longer than they were last year. Other things of note are the brand new Chuck Taylors and the flat-brimmed hat. These were both very specific choices of his. The Chucks are low-tops because the high-tops were the shoes for first grade. The flat-brimmed hat indicates assimilation into the fashions of mainstream hip-hop. Whatever.

I, of course, had an annual first day of school picture growing up. My mom would cart me to my grandmother’s house and they would take my picture in front of this tree in my grandmother’s front yard. Nearly every picture has me squinting fiercely because those pro photographers had to have their backs to the sun. I think the last one would have been 10th grade because after that year I started my ballet program that had me at ballet class first thing and not going to school until later in the morning. Also, by that time I was far too sullen to bother with such nonsense.

And I’m pretty sure that tree is dead now.

We stopped by the baby’s school Tuesday night for their welcome-back event and got to check out his classroom and meet his teacher. I need to take a moment and gush about his school. It’s just wonderful and we’re so lucky to live some place where a progressive and outstanding public school exists. And the building itself is amazing. It is always spotless and it’s decorated so warmly, you can’t help but cheer up a little bit when walking through the halls.

The husband and I both went to struggling Catholic schools for elementary school and we both recall them as being very drab, which is weird since Catholic churches are always so campy and over-the-top with their decor. You would think that the decorating bug would carry over to the schools. But I guess the priests and nuns who didn’t have the gift of knowing which gold chalices would go best with stained glass window depicting some anguish and naked people are assigned to education detail.

Anyway, another awesome thing about the public schools here is that they do an excellent job of providing everyone with school supplies. The only downside to this is that it eliminates the need for the annual school supply shopping.

We decided to hit up Target that night anyway to get the baby a new backpack and a big thing of pencils for our house. While we were there I decided to poke around the bedding section to check out their duvet selection.

We have these comforters from Ikea that are about four years old. They’re still in good shape, but are rather dingy at the top where our greasy hands and faces come in regular contact with them. Despite my best bleaching efforts, the faint yellow remains as evidence of many good nights of sleep and drool.

All of the duvets that they had in stock were at least $70 so I decided to wait and order a cheapie version online and grabbed some new sheets while I was at it. I went with these two:
blue_sheets chocolate_duvet

I’m going with the chocolate/blue combo because I totally have my finger on the pulse of the color scheme trends of 2003.

ANYWAY, all of this duvet talk kept making me think about Fight Club and how silly it is that I am even concerned about such things. And then I also started wondering if duvets were also mentioned in Raising Arizona when H.I. and Ed are giving Nathan Jr. the tour. But that was a divan.

With that sorted out, I think I can move on with life now.

15 Responses to “in the hunter-gatherer sense of the word”

  1. Redneck Mommy Says:

    Just wait till your kids are in junior high. Not only will you keel over from shock but your kids will step over your rotting corpse to make sure no one knows you are their mother.

    Sigh.

    And I love decorating trends from 2003. Beats my late 80’s theme I have got going on.

  2. kdiddy Says:

    @Redneck Mommy, our living room is late 80s with the drunk plaid nightmare couch as the centerpiece.

  3. jive turkey Says:

    The divan? You mean the place for socializin’ & relaxin’ with the family unit?

    I am honestly still laughing about matching chalices with stained glass anguished naked people.

  4. kdiddy Says:

    @jive turkey, yes, the family unit. I am glad to see that you are picking up what I’m putting down.

  5. Andy Says:

    As a loyal reader of over 5+ years, I am requesting you post the pictures of yourself on school first days. I need to see that tree!

  6. kdiddy Says:

    @Andy, Ha! I may have to oblige that request as there are lulz aplenty in such material.

  7. Mary Says:

    I’m rocking the chocolate/turquoise look in our bedroom right now. It looks AWESOME with my Ikea bed that I bought from a Pitt med student when I first got to Pittsburgh.

    Also, OMG second grade whaaaaat? That’s so crazy.

  8. kdiddy Says:

    @Mary, I’m looking forward to it. seems so chic! ;-p

  9. jess Says:

    oh god, i am about to have an eighth grader on my hands. orientation & school pics are today. i keep having a heart attack every time i think about it!

  10. kdiddy Says:

    @jess, eighth grade. jesus.

  11. Emma Says:

    Tafari, "The Dr should have know better. Well, unless he has that good hamq&.ruot;Hmim. By 'good hair' do you mean white hair? So, if the Dr. has light skin or white skin, does that mean his skin is 'good skin'?

  12. georgie Says:

    okay your lil guy is adorable! and i hapen to love choc brown and blue lol

  13. Suzy Q Says:

    I like those blue sheets. Where they be from?

    Also, my sis just re-did her whole bedroom in the brown/aqua color scheme. It’s more 2008-09 than 2003. I think. I’m no boudoir fashionista.

  14. kdiddy Says:

    @Suzy Q, Target! They’re reeeeaaally nice. I’m so happy with them.

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