5 Good Things About the End of School

Since I’m a parent with school-aged children (my youngest is 12), the end of the school year is a time of transition. Despite what the calendar says, this week marks the first week of summer around here. If my youngest son were writing this blog post, he would no doubt come up with far more than 5 things to be happy about. But since I’m a parent who works at home—and an older parent to boot—I’m actually quite proud of myself for having come up with 5. Here they are:

1) I get to spend more time with my kids. Of course, on some days this would top the list of 5 things to dread about the end of school, but on most days being able to spend more time with my boys is a blessing. My youngest really does make me laugh, and my older son who has Fragile X, well, my job is to serve and protect him but he rewards me regularly with plenty of smiles.

2) There is quite a bit more variety in my days during the summer. When they’re at school every day I stay home to write. This is a good thing, of course, since that’s what I do, but there is definitely something to be said for getting to go someplace, even if it’s just to the dog park for a walk in the sunshine.

3) I’m definitely more active when my boys are home. Did I mention what I do all day when they’re at school? Write. Sitting at a desk. I happen to be one of those people who can sit at the computer for hours and get big chunks of writing done (just ask my friend Allie Pleiter about the differences between Big Chunk and Little Chunk writers). In fact, I can sit so long at one time that I’m stiff when I get up. Oh, wait a minute, now that I’ve over 50 that sometimes happens after a only a few minutes of sitting…

4) We usually go on a vacation somewhere. Even if it’s only a few days to neighboring Wisconsin, it seems to me that more lasting memories are made away from home, out of the routine, than are made in our every day surroundings. So I guess this point would be more about memory-making than vacations.

5) If the sense of time passage is a gauge to judge whether a good time is being had, I can honestly say summers fly by so there must be a plethora of good times. It’s certainly true that the older I get the faster time goes. My brother attributes that to the percentage of life having been lived; a few months to a child is a bigger percentage of their life so it might seem to last forever. To someone my age, a few months of summer is a mere breath… a vapor… When it comes to summer time flies especially quickly.

For those of you who are parents wondering how in the world you’re going to get any writing done, or anything productive during these months of constant company, interruption and serving our families, I have only one piece of advice. Set realistic expectations and enjoy your kids while they’re still at home. Because this, too, shall pass—and it goes by quicker than we realize!