It’s the most wonderful time of the year…
Sing it with me.
No more pencils, no more books, no more dragging kids out of bed, no more making lunches at 5 a.m., no more threatening children to finish their homework, no more last-minute scrambles to find missing socks and backpacks while the school bus sits at the end of the driveway… I’m done.
Thank goodness, the end of the school year is just around the corner.
Thankful. Thankful. Thankful. That’s me.
While some parents are cursing the end of the academic year, I couldn’t be happier. In fact, I’m not sure who’s more excited about the start of summer, me or my second grader.
My daughter has been using a mega-huge Sharpie to “X” off the days as we countdown to summer vacation. Next week, I plan to raise that permanent marker in the air and make like Zorro across the calendar page.
I am so over second grade.
My daughter checked out about two months ago, and I can’t blame her.
This year has been riddled with the types of highs and lows you typically only experience at Six Flags. First, it was the bullying issue. Then, my daughter’s beloved second grade teacher left school due to a medical emergency. She was supposed to be gone for three weeks. Three weeks turned into three months. In that time my daughter’s class saw a merry-go-round of substitutes, and drama was the subject of the day(s) instead of reading, writing, and, well, anything else.
So, forgive me if I am not towing the company line, bemoaning the fact that I will now have to find someone or something to entertain my daughter during the time she would be at school.
It’s a common parental complaint during the summer months.
However, I happen to enjoy spending time with my child. In fact, I plan to use the summer to get reacquainted with her. During the school year I only see her awake for about four hours per day during the week. Roughly an hour in the morning before I drop her off at school and about 3.5 hours after school before she goes to bed.
In those two short windows of time I am typically nagging her to get out of bed, eat breakfast, find her shoes, get into the car, don’t forget her lunch; and then, get into the car, finish homework, eat dinner, take a shower, brush her teeth, and go to bed.
This summer I am taking a nagging sabbatical and the two of us are going to spend time enjoying each other’s company… before she decides she’s really not that into me.
Are you happy or sad about the school year coming to an end?