The back-to-school pic is making its rounds in the blogosphere – So-and-So’s five-year-old is off to his first day of kindergarten, That Gal’s seven-year-old is braving second grade. They’ve got their best outfits on, their brand new backpacks basically empty but ever-present (and beside them on wheels because for some reason that’s cool) and they boast smiles from here to Kudumulagumma – a city in
They are cute. And they bring back a wave of nostalgia for me of all of my first days of school: the nerves, the dread, the sheer specialness of the day. But try as I might, I just can’t convince Mr. Dub to pose for a first day of school pic. And I dare not take one of Miss Dub because I’m sure I’d break into hysterics at the thought she’ll be leaving me in five short years. (Or is it four? How the heck do they determine the cutoff?)
There is no back to school for us here at the Dub residence, although today is the end of summer in one regard because Mr. Dub will return to normal business hours next Tuesday after a three joyous months of “summer hours.” (Translation: Working an extra hour every day so you can get off at noon on Friday.)
Summer hours have been awesome. I’ve always been one to drag out the weekend, calling Friday, “Little Saturday” and Thursday, “Little Friday.” And summer hours made this even easier because we could get in some extra Saturday every Friday. Still with me?
Because us Mormons, while happy to oblige, don’t get to use Sunday as a sequel to Saturday. We choose to treat it differently, which means there’s no shopping, no spending, no swimming, etc. So that leaves us with A LOT to do on Saturday. And balancing fun and chores can sometimes get complicated, which is why using Friday as a prequel to Saturday is so ingenuous.
So it’s very bittersweet for me to say goodbye to summer hours. On one hand, as I mentioned yesterday, there is this new strange part of me that is looking forward to fall. (I think I’m going through seasonal puberty or something.) But on the other hand, I liked having Mr. Dub a few extra daylight hours a week.
And don’t you dare tell me that summer is over just because summer hours are done or because your kids have already posed for their back-to-school pics. First, Labor Day isn’t until Monday and if people are wearing white pants it’s either still summer or still 1983. Also, I am still more than a week away from my two week summer vacation to
But what do you really think?
Is summer over? And how do you feel if it is?
Did you live it up, or are you loaded with regrets?
I wouldn’t know yet. It’s still summer here.
21 comments:
I guess if you go by the calendar, technically summer isn't over until September 21st (or is it the 22nd? I can never remember). So I say....summer is still going strong. Although I am definitely ready to say good-bye to the hot sticky summer days.
For me....no regrets from this past summer. We packed it full of trips and time with family.
I like the idea of summer going 3 weeks into September... going with the solstice & all. I mean, the weather is better, so perhaps I love the first 3 & last 3 weeks of summer! I wouldn't say I have regrets, but I will never look back on the summer of '07 with any kind of fondness!! It started off with a sick kiddo (stomach flu for 5 days) we had over a month & 50 inches of rain during this same time. The raid aided in my DH getting in a car accident... in our one & only car, totalling it! We got lucky & got a STEAL OF A DEAL from family on a great car (which was a HUGE upgrade for us!) Then we had 4 1/2 weeks of my daughter sick with a parasite (which we didn't know it was a parasite.) So I am wishing today away, because August has been the worst month & all a little blurry... but I know September holds wonderful things for us, & we will enjoy the last 3 weeks of summer in that month!!
luckily for you, september is the hottest month in socal, so you'll totally be living it up there, even if the water is still Freezing.
it's summer here until november, but the repression of the pools closing after labor day, even though it's still equatorial-rainforest-on-a-sunny-day HOT here is just plain mean. especially for my kids.
the best part about going back to school while it's still summer is that it's light outside when i have to wake my kids up for school. it makes it SO much easier.
For me summer isn't over until I pull out my puffy vest and drink hot cocoa for breakfast.
i love that you are addressing this issue.
i have been campaigning for YEARS that summer goes until Sept 22, i'm hardcore about it. When people ask "how was your summer" on sept 2nd, i say "um, hard to say, it still is summer". And people often cock their heads and say "yeah, i guess", even when we're standing out in hot gorgeous summer weather in a tank top and flip flops! Hi. That's called summer.
Come on people! we need a bit more commitment here! JUST because school starts in Sept it doesn't mean summer is over.
Thank you again for raising this important issue.
This is the first summer we didn't take a major vacation. I'm not sure why we didn't, there was just a LOT going on. I think we both regret not making vacation plans, but this summer just flew by. As I sit in the pick-up line at school I think to myself "Wait? Wasn't I JUST here?"
Summer definitely lived up to its hype, even without the big vacations, or whatever. I am ready for the coolness and routine of fall though. I am missing the extra hours of daylight though. I miss that growing up we didn't start until September, as Leslie said the best month in SoCal!
i choose to believe summer is over so i can start fresh sept 1st and pretend it's the beginning of fall.
i have to at least pretend especially since it won't really be fall here in az for a couple more months, and the fact that we've spent the past 30 days above 110.
as long as i can try to start fresh in a new season, it give me new hope to salvage whats left of this year.
it is amazing how differently i think about this time of year than when i was in school. i've only been out a few years and it's so dramatically different, already.
Who ever said you can't wear white pants after Labor Day??? I hate that rule, and I tend to break it often!
great summer. loved all the trips. but every year this is about the time i start to get sick of my summer clothes and start eyeing the long sleeve shirts, the comfy sweaters, the wool pants, my coats (mmm... coats)... there's just something about fall fashion that makes me giddy to say goodbye to summer.
summer's just getting started here. the weather finally starts to turn warm in september and october is our best month. plus, with charlie starting preschool soon, it's like summer vacation is just beginning for me!
how fun for mr. dub to have summer hours. i'm sure that cuts down on sick days for lots of poeple.
I wish the summer weather would end soon -- I'm tired of the heat. And my poor kids attend an un-airconditioned school.
We had lots of fun this summer, and with four kids home, I'm always ready to get back to a more regular routine when school starts. It's hard to still call it summer once the kids are in school, 98 degree heat notwithstanding.
I don't think fall officially begins until late September, maybe the 22 or 23, so you have lots of time.
And what's really fun, is that now that we're adults and can plan vacations, we can take time off in summer, or even the winter and go somewhere sunny! For example, we're going to costa rica this April. Which means we'll have a week of summer in April. Love it!
Thank goodness I have a flexible job that doesn't track vacation days...
i think it all started in high school, when friday's were CARNIVAL DAYS! all it really meant was sneaking off campus to the mall to have a mcdonald's cone and play a good ol' fashioned game of air hockey. seriously, that was all we needed to pretend that it was infact a carnival and not just a boring day of school. were we creative or just delusional? whatever we were - we certainly still are.
let's say creative, hil.
(same reason i would pretend there was a spring break at byu by wearing my swimsuit under my clothes for a week.)
ok, maybe slightly delusional.
IT'S STILL SUMMER. AND DON'T THINK ABOUT COLDER WEATHER. AND DON'T TALK ABOUT IT BECAUSE IT MAKES ME PANIC. thanks.
Actually, hiliari & Mrs. Dub, my recollection is that hooky preceded hockey and carnival days involved more pucky than pucks. While you may have been delusional, you definitely were truant. If the ultimate retribution is your children visiting the same behavior on you, start praying now for totally closed campuses 10 or 15 years hence (not that it would have stopped you--that's were the creativity came in). But if the seeds do land close to the trees, just keep reminding yourselves how well you both turned out. You each amaze us continually, and, notwithstanding carnival days, we thought you were pretty good kids even then. Who knew grade point average and great parental aptitude had nothing but initials in common.
Summer is basically done for me. All of us are back to work/school, even though the weather is finally nice out. Blah.
BTW - I have been lurking around here for a little while, but I added you to my google reader today.
"Seasonal puberty"? I thought something was amiss. It does, however, explain the change I detected in your voice. Who knew?
We really had a great summer- and it is not like we did anything spectacular- we just enjoyed the lazy days together... and now I am ready for school and fall.
I think you MUST call me while you are in my hood. We are on our vacation too so we would love to meet up with you. I lost my old phone so you need to email me your #:mattandjaime.johnson@gmail.com.
Oh, and I almost cried when my niece showed me here new school supplies and clothes for school...the thing I miss the most is buying all the cool supplies!
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