By: Samantha S. Daviss
And so the panic ensues. What are we going to do with these
creatures that we were blessed with for three whole months? Not only have we
put the clutch in as parents somewhere around late-March to early April,
forgetting to pack lunches, don’t lay the clothes out anymore the night before
school, and bath time is no longer a routine it is just pure necessity when the
odors begin to linger around the car and the house.
The end of school is such a joy in many ways, we get to take
summer vacations together as families, we get to spend time at the pool playing
and laughing, or quality time floating and splashing in the lake. You don’t
have to get up at the crack of dawn any more, for at least two and a half
months; not that you have been at this point in the school year. You’re lucky
if you’ve been rolling out of bed in time to wake them, cram a granola bar down
their throats and rush them out the door.
Your calendar looks like the Bic pen factory threw up all
over it due to all the after school sports and activities, all of the
end-of-the-year school programs, the birthday parties that are happening for
all the summer kids, and not to mention the possibility that you might get a
night off with your significant other to sit and have a breather from it all.
But that is most likely not true. There are highlights, white outs, games
cancelled, and games re-scheduled.
May is such a pretty month, but it is the most dreaded month
for all school-aged parents. It is non-stop from sun up to sun down. You have
to get camp clothes together in the midst of all these activities. You have to
make sure the kids are tended to during the day if you work during the summer,
and you have to come up with activities for them to do and coordinate playdates
with other parents.
May is the month from hell. There’s not a calendar big
enough to handle all the goings on during the month. I think May wears me out
more than the holiday season does, I look forward to nothing more than this
month to end.
And then the unknown of summer begins. The inevitable… “What
in the world do we do with them all summer?” These little creatures are
climbing all over you, bored to tears, and you just want to pull your hair out.
Even though they have a garage full of toys, games, bikes and all sorts of
activities…you literally have to draw them a road map as to how to entertain
themselves these days.
When I was a kid, I woke up, had my cereal in front of my
summer time cartoons, threw my swim suit and shorts on and didn’t come back in
the house until my mom yelled for dinner. I was either in my playhouse
pretending I was taking my imaginary kids to school and running errands, or I
was swimming, or I was playing hide-out with my dog under some bushes where we
had created our own secret fort.
But soon all of us parents will be utterly exhausted from
the activities and entertainment of summer, and will have to get prepped again
for school. Fresh haircuts, new back packs, an updated wardrobe, and of course
the energy to start all over again. For the first few months everyone will lay
their clothes out the night before, baths will be taken, and homework will be
done. Then come the holidays, the homework is left at school, the clothes are
wadded up on the closet floor, and the lunches get made about half the time.
And once again April will roll around and there will be no
baths, clothes will be worn again without being washed, and the lunch money
will have to be driven back out to the school because not only was a lunch not
made, but the money was not exchanged between parent and child at drop off.
And thus concludes another exciting school year and the
start of summer chaos.
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