Holy Mother of God I am about to lose whatever is left of my everlovin mind.

If I have to listen to one more hour of  Nickolodeon or Disney, break up one more completely ridiculous fight, take one more 2x4 out of an assailants hands, clean up one more mess, here one more complaint of "it's too hoooooooot out"...I'm gonna lose it completely.

Now, I am usually a rather rational human being that seems to thrive on the chaos and constant busyness of my life and miss my children dearly when they are away from me, but even I, dear reader, have limits.

I don't care if I gestated you, squeezed you from my body, nurtured you with my milk and love you to pieces...GET THE %^$S AWAY FROM ME AND STOP TALKING FOR JUST ONE MINUTE!!!

Now, I don't actually say this to my little love muffins, but I am afraid I am getting close.  After a summer of family togetherness, I am on a 22 day countdown until school and those days better move FAST.

No longer can I watch the same 5 episodes of whatever ridiculous overly-laugh tracked show that the kids channels are hyping at full volume. 

(They weren't funny the first time and they sure as hell aren't funny the 20th).

No longer can I deal with the day long fights about who "gets" the cars, trucks, motorcycles, vans, bikes that drive past us on the road

(REALLY, you don't "GET" any of them so JUST STOP FIGHTING!!).

No longer can I deal with the really fun game of "If I throw this at you and you retaliate I'm just going to fling my exceptionally heavy, shrieking body on Mommy for protection"

(Because in all honesty, if you threw the toy/hit the kid/did whatever stupid action to start the fight, I really don't feel that sorry for you.)

No longer can I deal with the "recipes" that are left for me to clean up when it is discovered that they actually don't that good. 

(You should really listen to me when I say that cool whip, peanut butter, yogurt and chocolate don't actually make a good soup—I know what I'm talking about.)

No longer can I deal with the constant complaints of hotness, sunshine, humidity, sweatiness, etc.

(Suck it up already! The heat is not here to attack you! Talk to me about how hot your are when its -20 with 6 ft of snow)

Sure I'll miss the good times we had—the trips to the pool and the beach, the leisurely days playing and hanging out, but at this point summer has run it's course and we are craving the return of routines.

We need a chance to miss each other—to appreciate the good parts rather than focusing on the parts that drive us nuts. 

We need a chance to realize that we actually like each other and weren't put on this earth for the sole purpose of making each other miserable. 

We need a chance to remember (and appreciate) what quiet actually sounds like.

Here's to you Summer of 2011—we came, we swam, we ice creamed—now you are free to move on to those lovely crisp days of fall where school bells (and mothers) everywhere rejoice.