Belizean Potato Salad (Belize)

It's Transition Time! Yes, I am writing this on the eve of my very last day of a summer vacation well spent, which means tomorrow I will wake up three hours earlier than usual, pack lunches, pack backpacks, and pack myself into the car for a commute I haven't taken in two months. It's not just me transitioning this year either. Ian starts Kindergarten at the end of the week, and Suki starts preschool after Labor Day! These are not milestones that happen without some preparation though. Change has been in the air for more than a few days now.

There was the summer-long hunt for uniform bargains that had me dragging the boys into thrift stores and to back corner clearance racks. There was the epic morning of school supply shopping, in which I agonized over decisions, like whether I could substitute two pink erasers for the two white ones that were requested, all while managing the octopus hands that seemed to grow on my children in the
presence of so many shiny, colorful art supplies.

Then there was the cooking. Over three days I turned thirteen pounds of hamburger into five meat loafs, four batches of sloppy joe filling, and four quarts of Cincinnati chili that are frozen and waiting to conveniently be heated on tired nights in the months ahead. Today alone I cut veggies and whipped up a crab salad for the week's lunches, baked chicken for two recipes on this week's calendar, and now have a Chinese noodle salad to finish for tomorrow's open house picnic at Ian's school.

We even made time last night to hold a "family meeting" on the double twin beds in the boys' room. We talked about how our daily routines would change. That we might be tired or anxious in the days ahead, but that we can help each other when we are feeling this way. 

I did manage to fit in one last quintessential summer meal. Tonight we had grilled cheeseburgers, sweet corn and potato salad, Belizean Potato Salad, with enough of the essential ingredients to taste like summer, but with a few additions that subtly change the dish into a something more.

The end of summer is always bittersweet. I love the first days of school. So even as the days of reading on the patio or at the park or by the pool with the delightful soundtrack of laughing boys in my ears are winding down, I embrace the adage that change is good. The days ahead are about the world opening in new ways to students everywhere. And I am so excited to watch my boys experience this everlasting change.