Trares
A storm is on the horizon.
And that storm is known as “second grade.”
That may be a little dramatic. But the closer we get to the start of classes, the more I know Anthony is going to be ruing the end of his summer.
As we move into late July, it’s inevitably time to start thinking about back-to-school time. The summer has been a good one, though it seemed to fly by.
Since late May, Anthony has enjoyed the blissful life of summer break. He’s been able to sleep in later than ever during the school year (though we still make him go to bed at his normal time — too early, according to him.) Days have been filled with playing outside with his friends, hitting the pool and cooling off indoors, free to play as he pleases.
That relative lack of structure was a turnaround from the rigid schedule of the school year, which seemed to be Anthony’s least favorite part of classes. He’s thrived this summer, and it’s been fun to see.
In last week’s column, I talked about the art and soccer camps that Anthony attended this month. With summer winding down, he had one more unofficial “camp” to take part in — Camp Uma-and-Papa. For the past week, he’s been staying with his grandparents at their home in southern Indiana, living the life of a king.
As you’d expect from grandparents, he’s had free access to sweet treats, snacks and more. There have been trips to state parks, frequent visits to the playground, and unlimited game time. One of the days, they all went out to eat at Olive Garden and went putt-putt golfing.
The week has been good for Anthony, and for his grandparents, my wife’s parents. Such extended time with grandparents is fleeting, and entire week-long visits may not be available in the future.
When we picked him up on Thursday, Anthony was happy but tired. We didn’t bring up the impending approach of school time. Classes don’t start for nearly two more weeks, which gives us all a chance slowly acclimate to the coming change while still enjoying the trappings of summertime.
We’ll gradually adjust his wake-up time so those early schoolday mornings aren’t such a shock to the system. There are new school clothes to buy, to start the year off on a stylish note. With the second-grade supply list in hand, we’ll hit the store and load up on crayons, markers, pencils, notebooks and much more.
And there will probably be a few more trips to the pool and popsicles in the backyard.
The change may be tough at first. But I’m confident the excitement of a new class, new classmates and a new teacher will wipe out any qualms Anthony might have. He can look back at what turned out to be a great summer, and anticipate what will hopefully be a fun and engaging year of school.
Ryan Trares is a senior reporter and columnist for the Daily Journal. Send comments to [email protected].
