Back to School Blues
Back-to-school. No, this is not a post commiserating with my kids about how difficult it is to go back to school. This is all about my adjustment (or lack thereof) to the month of September. Just hearing "back-to-school" brings up so many emotions and memories for me. First is sadness. I will miss the easy summer routine my kids and I have gotten into. Exercising together in the morning after breakfast, quick showers and heading off to the beach to spend the day reading (me) and swimming (them). After the beach, we catch up on work and emails (me) instant messaging and facebook (them), shower again and either BBQ with friends or head out for dinner. Pure bliss...and knowing that it is about to end is the opposite.
One of the sure signs that the summer is coming to an end is all of the advertisements for school supplies. I loved shopping for school supplies as a kid. My mom, brother and I would go to Go-Go the stationary store in my town and load up our arms with loose leaf paper, notebooks, protractors and number 2 pencils. In those days we had to make covers for our text books (out of brown paper bags I think) and I always enjoyed the ritual of spreading out my supplies on the kitchen table and putting it all together. My kids don't seem to enjoy it as much as I did, but we dutifully label all the notebooks, sharpen pencils and fill up the binders with paper.
The week before school is when we transition back to city life. I call this week the last hurrah. While this time includes orthodontist, haircuts and the like, it is also filled with sleep-overs, end--of-summer silly movies, evening strolls for ice cream and lots of socializing.
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