Dear Summer, We’ll Miss You.

Sweet, sweet summertime…why do we have to leave you behind?  Some parents are counting down the days until the first day of school.  Some parents are crying at the thought of their babies starting kindergarten.  Me? I am not quite ready to wear pants.

I am a teacher. Summer is my saving grace. My well deserved break into sanity.  But whether you are a teacher or not, my bet is that you love spending warm summer days and long SUMMER NIGHTS outside with your kids, too.   

Every single school day, the yelling match begins around 7am in our house.  Who needs money or something signed? (Signing and signing and signing… is it just me or do we sign our name a LOT in during the school year?)

Who needs to take stuff for practice or whose clothes were left in the washer instead of dryer? (oops!)

My alarm for school days is literally “Never Grow Up” by Taylor Swift so that I can mentally remember every single morning that I truly do not want my kids to grow up.

I need to preserve the memory when my son is telling his sister she looks dumb in her outfit prompting her to change 14 more times. Or my daughter getting all the way to school without her bookbag. We have all been there right?

Those stressful minutes make us appreciate the calmness of summer as we binge watch Netflix and sip ice tea all day without a care in the world.  (Seriously though Netflix, props to you for thinking of a way to automatically play the next episode so when we peel ourselves off the couch 11 hours later we don’t even realize that most of our day is gone.)

The moment when you walk into Walmart every July and see the school supplies on every corner then come to the realization that school is almost back in session…ugh.  

Life seems less carefree once SUMMER IS OVER. We can no longer sleep until 10am. 

No more stress-free weekdays full of music and slowly making lunch by mid-afternoon then napping until dinner.

No more reading for hours on end because time doesn’t matter in the summer.  

The spontaneous day trips and random play dates seem to fade once the weather turns cold.  Everything goes back to the organized chaos we all know as PARENTING.  We ALL deserve summer break. 

I am not ready to check my child’s homework. Pretending you are smarter than the ridiculous story problem on your child’s math homework every night.

If you take away the amount of legs that a centipede has from the amount of legs a millipede has then add the amount of legs a lady bug has then subtract the amount of legs a spider has, how many legs do you have?  Wait… what?!

Please, please don’t go summer.  Save us from homework hell.

I have always loved our summers at home.  We travel and laugh our way through each day when whatever we decide for the day goes on without worry.  Being a teacher, I go from having to parent my two children to having to teach 25 students each day.  Back to school brings a whole new world of things for me to worry about.

Are my students safe at home?  

Who is picking them up today?

Are we prepared if there is an incident at our school?

Did I give them enough guidance on that homework?

And on and on…the worries are endless.  

When summer is over, my calm summer days quickly turn into school days with 25 students who need me at my best. They need me there every day ready to go.

So peace out summertime… hello to a whole new world of opportunities as we begin another school year with new teachers and new friends.

Whether you are giving us your child for the day and laughing as you drive away because you are thankful that school is back in session, or if you are sad YOUR BABIES ARE GROWING UP and are in the next grade level already, you aren’t alone.  

Children grow up so quickly and summertime is so fleeting. This school year will be great. Let another summer full of memories sit in your phone’s camera roll as you prepare to be so proud of everything your child accomplishes this school year.

Just breathe.  You’ve got this.  We’ve got this. But, trust me, we will miss you, summer.