That Summer Feeling

Pelicans

It’s the last day of school and because 99.9% of us have spent time in a seat in a classroom counting the days and minutes and seconds until we could say, “It’s the last day of school!” we know it’s a special day.

And then there’s another portion of us who stood in that classroom in front of those kids, and later, in front of those teachers, and thought the very same thing. This particular experience gave new meaning to the phrase, barely contain my glee…

Okay, so for some — those of us who still have children at home — this day conjures conflicting emotions:

A. You’re ecstatic that you no longer have to get up at 6:30 (or even 6:57) for your 7am car pool responsibilities.

B. You’re in a quandry because your almost 16-year-old son will be home every single day for 10 weeks (too old for camp, not able to attend summer school to make up crappy grades in Spanish and Algebra II because his perfectly delightful and generous but most likely too indulgent parents are taking him to Italy) attempting to put a pet rock to shame with inactivity and behaving quite charmingly the entire time. Lifeguard Tower

A. You’re seriously glad that you no longer have even more children — little ones — at home who now need you to be the summer tour director, organize appropriate television viewing time, snack time, nap time, play group time, reading time, craft time, and errand-running-time with said children in tow which was always so much fun.

B. There’s no B on this one. Trust me. Ice Cream Stand

A. You no longer have to ask (prod, cajole, encourage, motivate, hold a mirror under his nose to see if he’s breathing…) aforementioned teenager if he has homework to do, classwork to finish, quizzes or tests to study for, papers to sign, grades to keep an eye on, or projects to complete, and compose yourself long enough to stimulate chronic eye twitching.

B. You no longer have time to do all of the above because it’s the last day of school and all of the above didn’t exactly work, so you’ve resorted to Plan Z in preparation for the next school year. Already.

A. Even though you’re a million years older than you once were when you couldn’t wait for the Last Day of School, you still remember that the Day After the Last Day of School was a very special day that meant you’d lay in bed as long as you possibly could waiting to feel that feeling you’d waited for all year. You know. The, “IT’S SUMMER AND YOU DON’T HAVE TO GO TO SCHOOL!” feeling. The one where your days stretch in front of you, yawning with possibility. Evening Boardwalk

B. Since The Day After the Last Day of School is Tuesday this year, and that’s normally a car pool morning for me, see the first “A” above.

A. You’ll finally, finally get to see your wannabe artist son’s art portfolio knowing it will make you smile, appreciating his ability even though the world wants to browbeat artists, guilting them into thinking that begging on a street corner spouting formulas and quadratic equations in Spanish will gain them more handouts than painting or playing a violin. Okay, so an electric guitar maybe?

B. I’ll finally get to maybe think about possibly considering looking in his backpack, hoping against hope that there are no apples in the bottom, left to ferment for weeks. But if there are apples, I’ll be reminded that sometimes apples do fall far from the tree, and that is fortunate.

Happy Last Day of School!

Comments

10 responses to “That Summer Feeling”

  1. Woo hoo! Happy Last Day of School to the both of you!

    It was always one of my favorite days…both as a student and a parent.

    Enjoy your break from carpool duty.

    And RT…enjoy your summer…lounging, playing guitar, drawing, sitting like a lump…whatever.
    You only get a small handful of summers like this in your life…relatively carefree.

    And kellypea…it is ok to let him lounge. Really. Even though it can be disturbing, as a parent, to watch. 🙂

  2. Ritzy

    Happy Summer!
    Here’s to chilling out, sleeping in, eating breakfast at 1 o’clock, and going to bed at 3AM.

  3. A most breezy and beautiful post.

  4. I’ll be checking for those fermented apples, in two days – great post, thanks for the laugh!

  5. at 16 i would project the son will have way more better things to do than hang out and bug you,,, and he will more than get his fill of family in italy,, so i am thinking that part will take care of itself…

    now with the artist… i say encourage him.. so what if he never has a mcmansion or a late model car.. if he is happy and feels like he is fulfilling his dream,, he is way ahead of alot of mcmansion living late model car drivers,,, isn’t he??

    now you know why i never raised a child….

  6. mel — I can guarantee you that my boy will have that time. That’s the problem. It matters to me that he has it, and then he has to play the freaking game. It makes me crazy!

    Yay, Ritzy! Chillin’ out fo’ sho’. And saving up for what lies ahead. But not too soon!

    Hi Mrs. G! Thanks for stopping by. I feel famous now! w00t!

    Hi whimsicalpam! Thanks for stopping by. I’ll have to let you know about those apples….

    paisley, you are right about the artist. I’m good at the encouragement part. It’s just that I have trouble pushing the other things away. But he’s pretty strong, so he’ll just smile and keep hugging. He knows.

  7. Happy last day of school!!! Ours is in 3 more days. I have conflicting opinions in my head about it…..All I can really focus on is Survival!

  8. How dreamy summer can be. Nice post. It captures the essence for summer break.

    I remember the days when summer was a time to turn down the frenzy a bit. Aside from squeeking-out some vacation in July, I’m afraid my summer is a bit of a blur.

  9. You’re doing the right thing of course. No one should ever have to choose Algebra over Italy. Ever.

  10. Sweeeeeeeeet! Today was my sons Last Day Of School. He can barley contain himself.

    PS: I am home from vacation. I have REALLY missed your blog!

    PPS: Love *fully* the ‘new look’

    xxoo xxoo

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