By the Numbers

FOUR: If you’re a Red Sox fan, you know the significance of this number. It’s the dwindling number of games the Sox have left over the Evil Empire in the American League East. (Thanks bullpen.)

TWO: Number of weeks before the kids go back to school. (Go ahead, ask me if I’ve bought school supplies yet.)

THREE: Number of kid-related birthday parties The Spouse and I have left to host by September 1. Each kid gets a very small children's party and then we're having a small barbecue for the kids’ immediate family. One “Star Wars” themed party down, one “High School Musical,” one Red Sox and another “Star Wars” themed party to go.

FOUR: Number of days until “High School Musical 2” premieres and my daughter has a whole new reason to proclaim her love for Troy Bolton.

SIX: Number of thank you notes I have to press my 6-year-old into writing some time this week.

FIVE: Number of times I’ve ordered my offspring to go and play outside today because playing outside is what kids do. (". . . No, I don’t care if you’re bored.")

TEN: Number of dollars I owe the town library because I was tardy in returning videos we’d borrowed, both of them, sadly, unwatched.

FIVE: Number of tickets we have to a Red Sox game this week with the kids, courtesy of our kids’ Red Sox Nation memberships. (For the backstory related to this, go here.)

TWO HUNDRED: The amount of money I’m expecting we’ll have to shell out when we bring a family of five to the ballpark. I'm joking, of course. The number's likely closer to $2,000.

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(Disney image via the Los Angeles Times.)