The backpacks so meticulously chosen by little hands are hanging in the hallway. Inside them lay new and pristine supplies carefully labeled with the name of their owner. The lunch boxes sit on top the fridge waiting to be filled with all the favorite foods and snacks. And, the reusable bottles we hope will help us live a little greener are ready to be filled.
In just over a week it’ll be time to return to school.
My oldest will enter the world of First Grade and my son will officially be in Kindergarten.
It’s hard to believe that by the second day of August we’ll be knee deep in the paperwork, projects, homework, and reading that comes with every school year. I keep wanting to shout Where did the Summer go!? The days and weeks of the season just slipped by and now I’m faced with a list of things I never quite accomplished.
The horrible and oppressive heat has kept us indoors more than we anticipated this Summer. I have all sorts of plans for afternoons in the backyard, picnics in the sun, and many bike rides in an effort to work off those training wheels. But, most afternoons we’ve been hunkered down inside where the air conditioning works overtime to keep us all from overheating.
I had hoped to do more swimming this Summer – which would have required us to mooch pool time from someone. Hey, the heat is exhausting – you’d be mooching, too!
I wanted to go to the park and start my running routine. There were sidewalks that begged to be filled with pictures made of chalk. My vegetable garden was supposed to be our Summer project. But, instead of accomplishing all these things we’ve been inside playing board games, coloring pictures, playing dress-up, and building dinosaur museums.
Sure, we’ve had a wonderful time – when we weren’t driving each other crazy. But, our Summer is drifting away quickly…
Soon, I’ll be welcoming exhausted children home in the afternoon. The heat of the school, the playground, and the bus will wear thin their normally cheerful attitudes. We’ll have enough time for homework before it’ll be time for dinner, baths, and beds. We’ll do this routine over and over again for at least the next 15 years…
The Summers will soon be all about camps, friends, and their own agendas. They won’t want to cuddle down with me on a rainy day, pretend it’s cold outside, and watch The Wizard of Oz with popcorn and blankets. They’ll be drifting away, too…
In the mean time I have every intention of embracing all the joys and blessings of Fall. I’ll start of list of activities now so that, when the leaves and the weather begin to turn, I’ll be ready to drift with my children one more good time.
This was so well said! I'm only a couple of weeks behind you, but still very much in denial.
It's so hard to believe that summer is almost over. But I hope the kids are excited to be going back to school.
You want to come swimming next week?