Tennis Anyone?

Seems like a simple enough thing to do. Swing a racket toward a ball and get it over the net. Sounds like a plan. Well, then you have to factor in the other person who has the responsibility of hitting back over the net so that you can once again hit it. Oh, and don't forget to add in the the 91 degree temperature and the 80 percent humidity.

Well, Rachel has decided that she wants to join the tennis team in the spring. So I happily volunteered to go out there with my daughter and try to volley the ball back and forth. Ha! I can get the ball over to Rachel easily enough, but Rachel hits the ball back like she is playing baseball! If it isn't flying over the fence, across the street to the next block, then I am running over to the other courts to retrieve the ball!

Hey, it's all fun but I am burning up more calories in the act of retrieving the ball, than actually doing anything related to tennis.

I am hoping that with more practice, Rachel will actually move her butt a bit more and run toward the ball and then hit it with a bit more aim. I am finding that my endurance is not what it was, but hey, at least I am out there trying! And it is good quality time with my daughter.

So, if the end result is NOT the tennis team for Rachel, at least we are having a good time trying.

New Family Member

So, what started out as a peaceful, sunny, hot day at the pool, turned into a new chapter in the Leshinsky household.

Adina and I trudged over to the pool with our towels and noodles and we were floating in the pool. It was all very relaxing. The last few days of summer vacation for the girls, I had taken off a few days from work so we could all be together.

Then we heard it. At first, we thought it was a bird. Then it sounded like a kitten. Then it sounded like a bird. Well, it was driving Adina crazy. Just as Rachel arrived at the pool, the two girls decided to search around the perimeter of the pool to find out what was making this noise. Then I heard it, "Mommy, come here quick." In that moment, I knew that my life had just turned a corner.

When I got over there, in Adina's hands was the smallest ball of fur that I have ever seen. The fur was grey. The face has white markings with the pinkest of pink nose and mouth. This squirming body was crying for help and we felt so badly for it. The neighbors were sitting on their porch and said that they had heard it too but also thought that it was a bird.

Then they asked . . . "Mommy, can we keep it?"

They really didn't have to ask. My mind was already made up! I had to protect and nurture this little baby kitten. So we gathered our belongings from the pool and headed straight home. I called our vet and they said all the doctors were in surgery, but that I should get a baby bottle at a pet store and a can of formula until I can see the doctors. Oh, and they said that since the kitten is so young, that we would also have to help it to go to the bathroom! What? I didn't sign on for that! They said to use a baby wipe or a cotton ball and gently wipe it's genitils. Ok, fine.

So we got dressed as fast as we could and ran over to the pet store and bought the items we needed and went home equally as fast.

This little baby ate so much and yes, we were able to get it to go to the bathroom. We were very proud of ourselves.

Now, how were we going to convince Joel that we wanted to keep him?? We plotted all afternoon. We knew that the kitten would need to be fed often, we just didn't know how often. That information would come the next day from the vet.

So when Joel came home, we showed him this adorable, sleepy bundle of fur. I knew he was sold from the moment he set eyes on him, but he acts tough to make the girls think of the consequences. He always finds a lesson to be learned. So he put all of the responsibility on the girls to figure out the care and feeding schedule.

Well, after we visited the vet the next day, we felt a lot better about keeping this kitten. He is very healthy, but he is only two weeks old. He only weighs 7 oz. and needs to eat four times a day, about 3 - 4 tablespoons of formula.

Well, so far, even with school that started yesterday, we have managed to keep up with the feeding schedule. Joel came home at 3 p.m. to feed him and he was fine. When I came home at 5:15 p.m. Joel and the kitten were cuddled on the couch in the den. It was a touching sight.

Grace, well, Grace is still not sure about this kitten. At first she growled all the time. Now she is curious and sniffs at the kitten and only growls a little. The vet said that it would take a few weeks for Grace to adjust to a new animal in the house.

Now the issue is . . . what to name him?? I wanted Woodstock. Joel and Rachel picked Hendrix. But we are still debating. And at this point, the kitten doesn't know the difference. We started a list last night and we will continue tonight!

And So It Goes . . .

The lazy days of summer are coming to an end. I always found the end of the summer very sad. The summers for me were a time of freedom, of discovery, of days on the beach slathered with baby oil, of riding my bike to friends' houses, of sleeping late, of lying on the grass in the backyard looking up at the maple trees swaying in the summer breezes, of reading book after book of my choice. Then came the end of the summer.

There was always a feeling that I had to rush to get ready for school. There was shopping for clothing as I was constantly outgrowing my things. I always had to clean out my closet and drawers to make room for the new stuff. While I was doing that, I ended up cleaning up my entire room including the dust in the corners of the windowsills and way underneath the beds.

Well, fast forward a few decades and nothing much has changed. The only difference is that now I am the mom and my children are the ones flopping around the house in PJs until 4 p.m. in the afternoon, watching TV or playing guitar or reading whatever they want. They did the room cleaning. We did the clothes shopping. They are ready for school. And they have that wistful sadness that comes with the ending of a great summer.

And so it goes . . . another summer drawing to an end. But we have the school year to look forward to. New classes, new friends, new adventures. A bit of balance to the sadness, there is the new beginning to look forward to.