4 •• Hm Morrisviile and Preston Progress, Wednesday, August 30,1995
Anxiety attacks school mom
By Roxanne Powers
For our family, and I’m sure
others in M^risville and Preston,
summer and the recent back*to
school rush has brought a mega-
dose of "separation anxiety."
First, we began preparing our
almost-two-year-old, Jake, for the
three-hour-per-week separatiai that
preschool will bring. After a sum
mer of constantly being surrounded
by immediate family, this could be
a bit traumatic. I already envision
much wailing and peanut-butter-
streaked clothing as desperate
hands clutch at a loved one in an at
tempt to keep a situation com-
ftMtingly familiar. Okay, so I’m on
a diet and have temporarily for
saken peanut butter, but does that
mean I can’t indulge in wailing?
Next comes the parting with
Paige, our Morrisviile Elementary
kindergarteno^. When the realiza
tion fait that I would no longer hear
the solitary sound of her chirpy
little voice engaged in conversa
tions with her dolls, or her matter-
of-fact observations such as,
"Mommy, you need to replace that
panel on the dishwasher," I began
to devise a plan for disguising
myself as her teacher's assistant,
Nto. Leonard. Apparently though,
Mrs. Cutler, her teacher, is experi
enced in keeping an eye out fcH’ the
sorts of behaviors exhibited by kin
dergarten parents, for she politely
escorted me to the door where she
diplomatically said something to
the effect of, "Mrs. Powers, don’t
you need to take Brittany (our first
grader) to Mrs. Teasley’s class
now?”
I don’t remember seeing any
material on sq>aration anxiety in
relation to people and their
vehicles, but 15-year-old HoUi just
got her learner’s pmnit, and after a
trial run in the church parking lot.
I’ve decided that my new Suburban
must go into biding for the next
several years.
The departure of son Ryan to be
gin his freshman year at Pembroke
State University may not exactly
leave us fighting "the empty nest
syndrome," but this milestone isn’t
without poignancy. To begin with,
1 always thought I’d send each of
my kids off with sane remaikable
wends of wisdon in the form of a
letter they would cherish
forever., .but when I sat down with
pen and p^r to complete this task,
I alternated between uncontrolled
laughter and uncontrolled sobs.
Laughter because, how many 17-
year-old boys do you know who
would cherish the words of advice
offered by his mother...let alone ac
tually read them? Sobs because, at
38, I’m still in the initial stages of
achieving true wisdom, which is to
say that I’ve come to reaUze that
I’m still a long way from achieving
trae wisdom.
Besides I’ve had 17 years to teach
my SCO what I want him to know. If
I haven't taught him yet, perhaps
the poper time hasn’t arrived or
perh^s it’s another teacher, which
is why we just separated ourselves
from a wad of cash earmarked,
"Ryan’s tuition."
Summer brought a one-week visit
and a precious renewal of bonds
with grandchildren Andy and AUie
who reside in Louisiana. It also
brought the separation of us from
another several hundred dollars
when we indulged in that "grand
parent thing" and gleefully bought
little boy toys and baby girl
ciotbes...and yet another dose of
separ^on anxiety when we had to
part with them again.
Separation anxiety isn’t limited to
people separating from people. I
experienced a great deal of it when
I todc my last puff from a cigarette
six months ago (to you smokers
who fear quitting, it was only "that
bad" for four to five days...but
that’s another story), and I’m expe
riencing it again as 1 cut the fat
from my diet so I can successfully
shed the pounds I put on as a result
of separating myself from smoking.
There’s still another bout of
separation anxiety just days away
from fearing its ugly head. For
those who don’t want their spouses
to be reminded, I’ll whisper it in
parentheses: (bow season).
Speaking of rearing ugly heads, 1
do at least hope I won’t be sub
jected to the kind of "separ^on
anxiety" I exposed a neighborhood
dog. Jack, to a few autumns ago.
After about the third night of
being awakened by Jack’s incessant
barking outside our bedroom
window, my husband, James,
determined (amidst much grum
bling from me, who spent enough
sleepless hours while tending to our
newborn) that Jack was barking at
his three-dimensional, remarkably
real-looking deer target.
While I usually feel affection for
old Jack, this ni^t I was particular
ly exhausted and therefore furious
at yet another of his invasions on
my precious sleep. Clad only in a
T-shirt, I stomped out into the
frigid night air yelling, "Jack, hush!
Jack, if you wake up the baby,
you’re d^ meat! Jack, SHUT
UP!"
Standing 15 to 20 feet from the
target. Jade continued with his self-
ai^inted task. I ran right up to the
target and, waving my arms at it,
yelled, "Jack, you stupid dog! See
this, it’s not even real!" Undaunted,
Jack continued his tirade.
Desperate, I jerked the target up,
slammed it down at my feet (where
its head came ofO and said, "See
that? That’s going to be you if you
don’t stop it!" I could swear that
Jack’s jaw dropped with sudden si
lence before he tucked his tail and
took off yelping in fear.
ALMOST NEW—Town officials gathered ear
lier this month to cut a ribbon recognizing work
done by a local karate school to renovate the
floor at the community center in Morrisviile.
Participating in the dedication ceremony were:
from left to right, Commissioner Bill Ufferman,
Mayor pro tern Billy Sauls, parks and-recrea
tion director Alan Carroll, Commissioner Phyllis
Newnam, and karate instructor Doug Stanley.
It took about 200 hours to redo the maple
hardwood surface, Stanley said. The
ceremony took place during a Morrisville's
Town Employee Appreciation Day.
Look for
our next
Issue
Sept. 27!
Republican club to meet
The Republican Wanen of Cary
will host a luncheon meeting Sept
7 at Prestonwood Country Club.
There will be a social from 11:30
ajn. to noon followed by lunch and
the meeting. Cost is $10.
Guest speaker will be WPTF-
680AM talk show host Tom
JoynCT.
Anyone interested in attending as
a guest or joining the club should
ccmtact Mary Carr at 319-1352 or
Jean Avetta at 460-8982. Reserva
tions must be made by Monday,
SepL 4.
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