Sunday, August 10, 2008

Back to School Blues

It's nearing the end of August, and the lazy, relaxed days of waking up later, exercising on a regular basis, eating breakfast, lunch and dinner at odd hours and staying up late are coming to a halt. For mom's of elementary, middle and high school students, that is. It is no surprise to you, and the dread of it has kept you thinking of what fun it was to swim and play with your dear ones. What fun it was to sleep in until 7:30 or 8:00 am, get up and exercise while the babes slept, then get on the computer, clean closets, do laundry or complete a couple hours of work, emailing or creativity while they snoozed.

Watching movies during the daytime, eating homemade popcorn nightly and playing in the pool for several hours at a time were commonplace. Yes, there were moments when the sibling bickering became overwhelming and caused you to raise your voice and ground them from the TV or computer for a day. And the occasional project you worked on would be often interrupted by a "mommy!" or an "I'm bored," statement. But overall, summer is remembered as a time of relaxed schedules and play time.

With the weeks leading up to, and the subsequent school start, the road trips begin. New school clothes, school supplies and registration for fall semester activities are the first. Then, the daily trudge to and from school, PTO meetings, school events and after school activities and events. The burden of waking those sweet children and encouraging them to eat a bit of breakfast before school, picking them up and prompting them to complete the horrific homework, then pleading with them to go to sleep are almost here.

I don't like to going back to school either.