my afterschool crew
Each afternoon at three, I am driving a Hank full of kids home from school. (I just reread over that sentence and thought maybe I should add that Hank is the name of our car. The kids named him the day we got him and boy has it stuck. I think it's kind of normal to name your vehicles, maybe? We will pretend that it is.)
The year began with a question from a friend/neighbor wondering if I'd like to carpool to the elementary school this year. She offered to take the kids in the morning if I could bring home in the afternoon. I replied yes before she was even fully done asking. The carpool made mornings a little more bearable around here.
So in the afternoons, every afternoon, I was leaving Bristol and driving to our old street to drop off Addison. As I was driving each day, I saw my friends Elizabeth and Jen both pulling into their driveways from also picking up at the elementary school. It seemed silly, so I offered to drive for those families. They were beyond appreciative because both families have littles at home taking a afternoon nap.
Thus grew the carpool crew.
These friends make me smile. You simply would not believe some of the things that come up in conversation in Hank each afternoon. Highly, highly entertaining.
Selfishly I love having this crew each day because it helps us stay connected to our old neighbors. We love our new house but miss our old neighbors terribly. While we only moved about three blocks away, it feels like a different neighborhood. We were smack dab in the middle of some wonderful people on Barstow and we had frequent conversations with our neighbors. Now on Lockwood, two weeks can go by without us seeing a neighbor. Busy streets and far apart houses don't make for close neighborhoods.
Yesterday the carpool crew came over for a cocoa party. The kids ran around like crazy people and really enjoyed one another. The sugar from their hot cocoas with marshmallows, candy canes, and whipped cream kicked in in a biiiiig way. :)
The year began with a question from a friend/neighbor wondering if I'd like to carpool to the elementary school this year. She offered to take the kids in the morning if I could bring home in the afternoon. I replied yes before she was even fully done asking. The carpool made mornings a little more bearable around here.
So in the afternoons, every afternoon, I was leaving Bristol and driving to our old street to drop off Addison. As I was driving each day, I saw my friends Elizabeth and Jen both pulling into their driveways from also picking up at the elementary school. It seemed silly, so I offered to drive for those families. They were beyond appreciative because both families have littles at home taking a afternoon nap.
Thus grew the carpool crew.
These friends make me smile. You simply would not believe some of the things that come up in conversation in Hank each afternoon. Highly, highly entertaining.
Selfishly I love having this crew each day because it helps us stay connected to our old neighbors. We love our new house but miss our old neighbors terribly. While we only moved about three blocks away, it feels like a different neighborhood. We were smack dab in the middle of some wonderful people on Barstow and we had frequent conversations with our neighbors. Now on Lockwood, two weeks can go by without us seeing a neighbor. Busy streets and far apart houses don't make for close neighborhoods.
Yesterday the carpool crew came over for a cocoa party. The kids ran around like crazy people and really enjoyed one another. The sugar from their hot cocoas with marshmallows, candy canes, and whipped cream kicked in in a biiiiig way. :)
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