Thank You by Amy Vastine

Around here, the only thing everyone is thinking about/dreading is going back to school. I have three kids in three different schools this year. My oldest began his high school career last week, my daughter is in seventh grade (what a sweet and pleasant age, said no mother of an adolescent ever), and my youngest is starting his last year in elementary school. It also means back to work for me as a middle school social worker (did I mention what a sweet and pleasant age that is?) So, in honor of all those kiddies getting on a bus, I thought I’d steal a little gimmick from Jimmy Fallon and The Tonight Show. I’m calling this:

Thank you darling daughter for informing me that you have never in your entire seven years of school needed to use a gum and a kneaded eraser for art class and convincing me your younger brother will still pass the fifth grade if I can’t find them at any store within a 100-mile radius of my house.

Thank you people who don’t know about Target’s a little section of calculators in the electronics department for allowing me the opportunity to do the dance of joy (much to my high schooler’s horror) after snagging the last $140 must-have graphing calculator on sale for $85, especially when the other five they had in stock in the Back to School section sold out immediately.


Thank you usually purposeless living room for storing all the school supplies until school drop off so the kitchen table could be cleared off for dinner.

Thank you school supply drop off day. Even though it’s not all that fun to deal with the hundreds of people who also have nothing better to do with their time than to show up at the middle school at 4:00 in the afternoon to dump their kids’ school supplies off, it’s nice to be able to see the living room floor again.

Thank you pre-sharpened pencils packs for saving me from spending hours at the dreaded pencil sharpener that never really gets those cheap pencils I buy sharp enough.

Thank you Thursday for being the day all three kids will be in school but is still part of my summer break. You have no idea how amazing an empty house sounds right now.

Thank you Friday for being an Institute Day and allowing me to sleep an extra hour on my first day back, go out to lunch with friends I haven’t seen in ten weeks, and being the beginning and end of my work week!

Lastly, thank you summer for being a time for me to recharge my batteries, spend time with my family, and giving me some extra hours to fit some writing in.

Now bring on September! My novel, THE BETTER MAN, comes out next month and I am so, so excited about it. In addition to the romance, there’s family, some drama, and a little humor.

To celebrate the release of my book and all the kids going back to school (which hopefully means more reading time for some of you moms out there), I’m giving away a signed paperback and bookmark to a US winner or an ebook to an international winner. Comment on this post or share it on Twitter with #HarlequinHeartwarming for a chance to win! I'll post the winner tomorrow in the comments section. And if you don't win here, check out my Goodreads giveaway. The link is in the contests section of the blog.  Good luck!