Independence Day
There is one event that both kids and parents track with equal interest as it looms closer each year, and that event is the first day of school. And even though it’s on the radar for both, it’s dramatically different for each group. For kids, it’s that dreaded day when life has a schedule again; homework, music lessons, soccer practice, karate, community theatre, driver’s ed, after school sports, blah, blah, blah. Suddenly, your kid has a job, where they leave for work every morning at the crack of dawn and don’t return until dinner time. For the same reasons, we parents fondly refer to school starting as Independence Day.
By late July I’m looking forward to the first day of school the way my dog looks forward to wet food. With the novelty of sleeping late wearing thin, my kids look at me every morning like I’m responsible for the day’s exciting turn of events. Tired of all the camps, play dates, swimming lessons, bike rides, movies, story times, and hikes I’ve worked so hard to coordinate, my little darlings have the audacity to tell me they’re bored. “How lucky for you,” I tell them. “Remember this when you’re 35 and can’t recall the last time you sat down.”
The problem is, kids confuse being bored with relaxing. I think we parents have worked so hard to make our kids’ lives full, that when kids have a free moment, they’re not sure what to do with it. There’s an art to being bored and unfortunately my kids are bad at it. I fully admit, it’s my fault.
So yesterday, when my two boys had a friend over, and they were whining that they had NOTHING to do, I gave them each a Fudgesicle and told them to go out back. “What are we supposed to do then?” They asked. “I don’t know,” I replied curtly. “Talk about your day, your hopes, disappointments, accomplishments. Solve the problems of the world. Whatever! Just get out of my hair, okay?” As you can see, by late July I need to reread my parenting books.
But then something odd happened. They got on the swings, ate their Fudgesicles, talked, laughed, and sat. And sat. And SAT. I kept checking to make sure they weren’t dismantling something. But they weren’t. They were doing NOTHING and enjoying it, the way summer was meant to be. Envious, I got my own Fudgesicle and joined them. With chocolate dripping down our chins, we talked about Legos, Disneyland, bugs, the planets, and why gravel hurts when you walk on it barefoot. It was one of those perfect times you usually only read about.
And then I realized Independence Day really isn’t independent. Once it arrives, we become so dependent on that crazy school schedule, we can’t exhale until next summer. So if you haven’t sat down with your kids yet once this summer, there’s still time, but you’d better hurry. That rollercoaster called the first day of school is just around the corner.
