Everything is better with Chocolate

I woke up this morning to the faint hum of the Cicadas (faint only because the windows were closed). This is my favorite time of year in Chicago. While people everyone down south are beginning to roast in the heat, we are enjoying mid 70's and backyard barbeque's. It is the time of year when friends and neighbors emerge from their homes after a looooong winter. It is the time when we take advantage of all the wonderful parks and forest preserves. Not this year. This year has been claimed by the Cicada's. Thoughts of eating outside are quickly banished by the thoughts of the big-eyed little creatures that have taken over our summer. Thoughts of back yard barbeque's are followed by thoughts of "how will be hear each other the sound of the mating locust?"

Tradition overcame the threat as the third grade parents took a stand against the cicadas. We rallied on and held our annual outdoor celebration of another year survived. It's the one time each year when you see the parents of your children's friends, without your children and their friends. It is a place where you can share stories of child rearing adventures without being interrupted to break up a sibling rivalry. It is a place where you are reminded that you're not alone in the everyday challenges of being responsible for another human being and their contribution to the world. It is a place where you find out that even the cicadas aren't bad with a little chocolate!