State of the Union: November 5, 2007

From the moment the plane bringing us back from our friends' wedding last Sunday hit the Atlanta tarmac, the name of the game was civic responsibility, or more specifically, educational volunteering. And before I go any further I just have to say one thing: I don't know how moms who work 40-70 hours in addition to their Mom Job do it. They must possess Kevlar vests or emotional force fields to protect them from feeling obligated to step into the volunteering maelstrom that's become such a part of our children's lives. Not that parental involvement isn't a good thing: I just doff my hat to any woman who shows up at the school in the hose and high heels of her "straight" job and sits down criss-cross-apple-sauce with such a good will to read a slew of kindergarteners Lilly's Big Day. I at least have the luxury of showing up unshowered and dressed down.

I would wax eloquently along these lines a couple of paragraphs more, but I just realized why the shift back to standard time is not the extra hour of sleep it used to be: no sleeping kids at 6 this morning. Good thing I got that solitary cup of coffee in a couple of mornings ago.