Make mine a double

There was the strangest double rainbow over the elementary school parking lot this morning. No rain, just a few thick, gray clouds, but nothing resembling moisture. Strange, indeed, but sorely needed in a "bright" kinda way.
This is the first morning of the new school year that might've called for a stiff drink before the first bell rang.
The Short One woke early, early with a STUFF-EEEE nose. It's not ragweed. Not mold. Not anything in the air, but thank you for the suggestion. It's 6-yr-old hands all over a new classroom, bathroom, cafeteria, new friends, trash cans, shared glue bottles, jump ropes, basketballs ... it's only been a week and he does this every year. The early waking, the general tiredness, the germs ... all lead to general malaise of the The Short One's nose. Which leads to increased chappiness of the lips and face. Nose wipeage on the shirt. Drying and cracking and peeling of the nose. Allll in time for that first school picture a few weeks away.
This stuffy nose turned his morning upside down. In such a large way. "I can not breave. I can not eat. I can not forget I have a nose and just breave froo my mouf, MOMMY!, cuz I DO have a nose and it is not working!"
The first arch of the double rainbow is for that poor, tired stuffy nose.
The Big One has been, shall we say, sloooowwww to warm to homework this week. There hasn't been much, but the few tasks he's had have been ... tasks. And there has always been a little piece missing to complete the task. A spelling book left in his desk. A math paper that "I KNOW I PUT IN HERE, MOMMY!" And always looming is the threat of a week's worth of NO RECESS for unfinished assignments. Between you and me, a week's worth of no recess sounds like more punishment for the teacher than the kid. Kinda like "grounding" here at home ... If my kid is being bad, I don't want 'em with me!
But, it works w/ The Big One ... TERRIFIED of missing recess and TERRIFIED to talk to his teacher he'd deemed so "cool and funny" earlier in the week. TERRIFIED to compromise or negotiate. I armed him w/ lots of understanding and suggestions for compromise and negotiation, but he's on his own. And TERRIFIED.
The second arch of that double rainbow is for The Big One and that forgotten math paper. That it is found and completed before math class.
This week and that rainbow has led us to this long weekend, and for that we are so grateful.

***

Just like I can still hear Peter Jennings voice on the radio on 9/11, I can still hear Brian Williams reporting from New Orleans on 8/29/05 ... "We've dodged a bullet here in New Orleans," after Hurricane Katrina blew thru w/o the expected Category Three wind damage, but before the levees broke. I remember The Tall One to Whom I'm Married screwing up his face in front of the live TV report early that morning, "Mmmmm, I don't know about that ... I hope flooding isn't a problem. You know that place is built in a hole." And I remember watching the news that evening. All of a sudden Brian Williams is sweating, and it's flooding, and I am disbelieving of the images I'm seeing. And, regardless of what went wrong and who did or didn't screw up or who shoulda left but stayed, I am still touched by the enormity of that human condition. And the pictures of the suffering SO CLOSE to home were overwhelming. I tried to watch every minute of the news coverage, because that's what I do w/ news and events. But, that's one story ... on about day three ... that I finally turned off. I was completely overwhelmed and shocked and exhausted.

But, today I'll reread and rehash and rewatch all the anniversary coverage. Because that's what I do.

And hope for rainbows.