Back to School

This time of year always seems to elicit a degree of frenzy in the last minute quest to do everything, push the activity levels to full tilt and hit the beach as many times as humanly possible before that School bell rings and classes begin.  I suspect this time of the year might also bring equal parts of sadness and relief to parents.  The passage of time seems to be breaking the sound barrier!

For us, Summer was filled with road trips, long talks, late nights and sleeping in (a relatively foreign concept in our household!)  One breakfast in particular, on our holiday up the coast, occurred so late in the morning that the amount of food our child consumed seemed almost comical in relation to her petit frame.  There are always those growth spurts and when school starts up again, it’s surprising to see that your child wasn’t the only one going through these changes.

Each year inches closer and closer towards puberty until…what’s next…college, work, and marriage?!  That’s how it works right?  Life moves so quickly that in the blink of an eye you and the husband are experiencing “Empty Nest Syndrome.” 

But I digress…

Right now we are in our last week of Summer vacation.  After Labor Day, it’s back to the rush of school, routines, homework & after school activities.   So this is the last hurrah before school starts and it’s always the biggest hurdle.  It’s like holding onto the last inches of a rope. The refusal to let go and shift gears. Hanging on with every fiber of our being in the hopes that we did everything possible to make it memorable.

Throughout my own childhood, Summers consisted of long bike rides with friends, days out at the lake with family, sitting around campfires until the wee hours of the night and sleeping in until noon. (Oh, such luxury!) These days, there doesn’t seem to be quite as much freedom or spontaneity with all the required paraphernalia we end up carting to the beach or the park. It all seems rather excessive in comparison.  But in the end, it’s always worth it.  It’s still all about getting home late, eating dinner as the sun goes down and hopefully sleeping in sometime past 7am…if we’re lucky (!) These days, the rides on bikes are generally limited to parks or campgrounds but it’s fun when there is group of close friends experiencing it together, even despite looming adult supervision.  Oh, and the campfires, those are a must… otherwise you might miss out on an experience that goes hand-in-hand with the serenity of Summer.

The dog will be lonely again, to be sure, and the house; quiet…well, at least until 3 pm.

Welcome back, School.  Welcome back.

Photo by: Kelly Norris Sarno