School Daze

School Daze

If your family is anything like mine, you are
probably struggling to readjust to the routines of school and fall sports. Some
years, it feels like the first week or so of school brings low a homework
volume for my kids, allowing them to ease gradually back into their school
schedules – but sometimes the return to school seems like a more abrupt plunge,
and my kids – and I – aren’t always ready to “jump right back in.”

I usually try to start instituting an earlier
bedtime and more regular mealtimes a week or two before school begins. This
isn’t always easy – the kids are well aware that their summer is dwindling to a
close, and they’ll try whatever they can to wring the final bit of fun out of
summertime activities like swimming, going to the beach, and heading to the
park. But the slightly cooler weather and shorter days help to remind kids that
a big change in right around the corner.

It’s also a challenge to get all of my
back-to-school shopping accomplished when the kids want no part of thinking
about the imminent change in expectations. Every year, it seems like I spend
more and more money on school supplies and run around trying to track down more
and more obscure or specific items. This year, the advent of an iPad program at
the middle school added a new wrinkle, with a “training session” packed with
information about expectations for in- and outside-of-class usage of the
devices.

When the first day of school arrives and first-day
clothing has been selected, lunches are packed, and backpacks are crammed full
of classroom supplies, I take a deep breath and head out to wait for the
bus(es) with my kids. When that last bus pulls away, it’s a sudden shift from
the hectic preparations to a much quieter household. It always takes me a few
days to adjust.

This was a great summer. It was longer than last
summer because we had fewer snow days to make up in June, and the weather has
been beautiful. My kids had a lot of fun and I enjoyed the lazier summer
schedule. But as summer drew to a close, the kids were ready to see their
school friends again and I was ready to bring back a routine – ready to not
have to hire a
babysitter every time I need to get a haircut or run errands. Still, every
return to school is bittersweet when I think about the fact that the kids are
another year older, another year closer to independence. I am sure that by the
time next summer rolls around, I’ll be ready to have the kids around for
another volley of lazy summer days.