Back to Sanity or Why School Should be Year-Round

Walking through Target, buying only the necessities I assure you, I noticed that the store is fully in back-to-school mode. The entire seasonal section is full of notebooks, pens, and matching backpack and lunchbox sets. Around the main store, you see the signs that school is approaching too. There are teacher mugs and lots of storage options in the home section. School-themed hair pieces and jewelry are front and center at our Target right as you walk in. And let me just say the globe earrings are adorable. If I had the patience to be a teacher I’d look like Ms. Frizzle every damn day. I’d be teaching high school physics and walking around in dinosaur dresses with matching earrings and shoes. Instead, I work from home. No one would see my incredible outfits.

And here is the main issue. Working from home. Everyone in my family is always here now. Including my husband since he’s a teacher. I have a house absolutely full of people, so my usually quiet office, populated only by my coworkers (our 2 dogs and cat) is now invaded by my 3 children and husband. My usual crew is pretty non-vocal, except on trash day, and sits in their assigned spots, one dog bed beside the desk, one under the desk, and a small cat tree, until I get up to refill my drink and have a little snack time for the animals. This summer group is something else entirely, often playing videos or music and walking around the house. The audacity. Is it too much to ask an 8, 11, 14, and 37-year-old to be completely silent all day while also ignoring me muttering to myself constantly? Apparently, yes.

When I see school supplies return to the stores it’s like a beacon of hope. Soon the reigning chaos will be conquered by structure enforced by everyone having schedules. Weeks of family time have left the kids feeling like siblings are overrated and debating the merits of selling each other on the black market. They’ve left me sneaking out to the library and coffee shop and investing in solid noise-canceling earbuds. The crazy schedule we have with 3 kids in different activities is lighter in the summer but I almost, almost, miss it by this point in their break. I’ll come to my senses sometime around early October when I’m trying to figure out how to get 3 kids somewhere with only 2 drivers in the house while also shoving jazz shoes into a dance bag for one kid and a theater bag for the other hoping I put the right ones in each. Thank God for the kid who plays drums and only requires us to have 400 drumsticks in every possible location for easy access. I think there are 3 in my car right now. For some reason, they don’t seem to travel in pairs.

And so, I now look forward to the beginning of the year. Even the kids seem ready to return already asking when they’ll be getting teacher assignments and schedules. Someone helpfully told us on Facebook that it will be next week. I never seem to have this inside information or know where to look for it. Although it could be somewhere in the 47 emails the district sends each week. The boredom is overwhelming their desire to sleep until 9 and not have homework.

Here’s to all the families white-knuckling it out these last few weeks. I hope the school year brings you some calm and may all your kids’ activities be at different times so you can actually get them there!

Check out Amazon’s Back to School Deals to get you started. I’m an Amazon Affiliate and may be compensated for purchases made through my links. Thanks!