These Last Days of Summer

We are in the middle of August and the count down to back-to-school has begun. In my house, our conversations have started something like this…

“Why do we need to buy everything new again this year? Where is your ruler, flash drive, calculator, and pencil box from last year?”

“Come on, we’re going to be late. We need to get to your doctor’s appointment.”

“What, in all that is holy, is still in your back pack?”

“Man this lunch box stinks!”

“What do you mean you wore your new cleats to the beach and now you can’t find them?”

“Tell me again why I need to buy decorations for your locker?”

Oh, this time of year is so fun. I just love that first glimpse of the school calendar when you realize you will have lots of activities to keep you busy throughout the next few months. The school just knows you have nothing to do with your time and has been eagerly looking forward to filling it for you. (I fell into decline for 3 days after I synced my calendar last week.)

I love the list of school supplies and navigating Staples to get those specific colored binders for every subject, which we will either lose or destroy in the next several weeks. Thankfully the store recycles old binders. Can you imagine having many years worth of binders to discard?

I love watching my daughter contemplate that perfect backpack – for hours! Yes, we ended up with one that looks suspiciously like last year’s. Why did it take hours, you say? One can only wonder.

We haven’t even gotten to the clothes yet. I was planning on extending the summertime wear into the early fall, but with this cool weather that may not be a good strategy. I cannot contemplate going to Abercrombie, J. Crew, Justice, Gap, Pink and who knows where else before school begins. I am in denial on this one.

And you know what? I think I may employ that denial across the board. I think I am going to deny that school is starting again. I am just going to ignore it and spend every day in the next two weeks doing only summertime activities. I am going to go to the beach, see a few movies, spend time on the boat, get ice cream, grill dinners and eat al fresco, stay up late, sleep in and basically loaf around. Yep, that’s what I am going to do.

We have some school supplies, the kids have clothes in their closets and other than filling out a few forms, I am going to pretend that it’s July, not mid-August. I am going to relish these last days of summer. I am going to bask in the glory of summer for as long as I can.

Yes, this is a good plan. I like it. Denial is my friend.

Beach anyone?