Everyday now my youngest asks me how many days are left of Summer Break before school starts up again. Each time followed by a long “Awwwwwwww”, and a series of high pitched whines. It’s kind of amazing. Though she is looking forward to seeing all of her friends each day for recesses and lunch, she isn’t too fond of going back to sitting still for hours at a time, facing front, doing work sheets, reading, and math. Can’t say I blame her, the summer is way more fun. Games, swimming, farming, being at home, the farm, Grandma’s house or the cottage is far more free than sat in a classroom. Plus you get to read whatever you want at home! Dog-man, Captain Underpants, Dr Seuss you name it, all more fun than a math work sheet. I can see her point. Still gotta learn though. Back to class with you!
My eldest is keen to get back into the classroom. She has thoughts on teachers and potential classmates. She isn’t real big on the disruptive types being lumped into her classes all the time. But given the temperament of most eleven year old boys I suppose they would all likely fall into that category unless they are extremely introverted, shy, quiet, or just as studious as my child. That is saying a lot. Regardless, the older one is excited for school.
Before you know it we will be neck deep in the Markham Fair, Thanksgiving, and then Halloween and pumpkin stand season. Everything picks up speed between September and November. So much going on once the school year kicks in. Dance, Girl Guides, Tutoring, Climbing, Taekwondo, plus PTA activities surrounding the school. Work typically picks up in a headlong rush to Christmas break. Somewhere in there is my wife’s break week for her school, which means travel of some sort, or local day trips & activities.
We will have to pick & wash pumpkins, gourds, squash, and sweet corn. In November we will be planting garlic for next year, and adding all of our newly acquired tulip bulbs to the garden beds. Plus all of the leaf bagging, mulching, and yard clean up. Not to forget decorating for Halloween which covers a large percentage of our front lawn, and trees, and porch for some of September, and all of October. We like the spooky season. Oh! And Halloween Haunt visits to Wonderland in the evenings for lights, atmosphere, smoke machines, and characters in costume scaring passers by. It’s a hoot!
Life really does kick into high gear once September rolls around. I forgot to fill out the preferred classroom placement form for the kids in regards to friends they’d like to move forward with. I had done it every year and in most cases our wishes were ignored, so I put it on the back burner, and promptly forgot about it. My fault. I should have done it the day I saw it in my inbox like every other school requirement email. But I did not, so it was left blank, for both kids. D’oh!
We have working back packs, and I cleaned the lunch bags on the last day of school which was a half day. We have pencils, erasers, rulers, scissors, pencil crayons, markers, glue sticks all on hand. They have working pencil cases in their possession so I don’t see much need to go shopping for that stuff right now. We donate lined paper, notebooks, Kleenex, and what not to each class our children are in, so everything is mostly covered at this point. Luckily they do not need laptops for school just yet. That might be a high school thing, or a hand mobility thing, I’m not sure. For now pens, paper and pencils are the gold standard. I’m good with that.
Next Friday at 3:00 pm we will receive our child placement emails from the school. The school shuts immediately thereafter in order to brook no arguments about child placement. I can dig it. Nothing is set in stone until early October anyway, as kids come, go, and get shuffled from teacher to teacher across classrooms right up until then. No point getting angry or excited until you see how it all officially shakes out, in my opinion. Our hope is that they end up with a teacher they can relate to, and one or two good friends to commiserate with during the day outside of recess/lunch breaks.
Happy Friday morning to you all.
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