Guilty Summer Pressures

by Cathy

Today, the girls go back to school. I am at once relieved and dare I say, saddened.

This summer, I spent a lot of time with them. This was the result of the constant postponement of vacation plans due to extenuating family and work issues, and because of that, I never ended up putting them in any day camps just in case those vacation plans were to come to fruition - which they never did.

So here now we find ourselves at the end of yet another short-lived summer, one whose carefree days were numbered but still needed to be filled. So my husband and I had to do some entertaining. Okay, a lot of entertaining.

All summer, we felt the guilty, burdening pressure of trying to amuse our kids, to make the summer fun, enjoyable and memorable lest they go back to school and have to sadly respond to all the perky "What did YOU do this summer?" inquisitions with a flat, "Nothing." They need to hold up their end of that conversation with activities they actually had a lot of fun doing. Short of putting on a freaking Cirque du Soleil performance to draw their attention from the electronic gadgetry and the television, we had our work cut out for us.

I passionately loathe it when I see my kids glued to the television and it is a perfectly beautiful summer day in Chicago, a city that lies under snow, ice and blistering winds for nine months out of the year. Yes, after those nine months every year, Chicago gives birth to some rare, gorgeous, sunny weather and by God, we have to take advantage of every God-given beautiful day, because if we don't we will regret it for the rest of our shivering, miserable winter lives.

Combined with the Guilty Weather Days is the fact that summer work schedules for my husband and I are very flexible as to allow for one or even both of us to be home most of the time. Hooray, you say? Well, not if you feel the need to fill every second you're with your bored, eye-rolling kids with promises of fantastical, elaborate plans to appease their summertime appetites.


We should really take them outside and do something. It's a beautiful day!
Let's hop on the train and go downtown!
Let's go shopping!
What did we buy those bikes for?
Where else can we take them besides the park?
When are those free days at the museums?
Who can we set up a playdate with?
We have to take them to some waterparks!
How about the beach? Pack some lunches!
I gotta work from home, can you take them out somewhere?
Have they gotten their summer reading and homework done?
Where the heck are all the board games we bought?
Grab a feather duster and yank out the vacuum - you're cleaning the house!
Throw a tea party!
Build a fort in the living room or have a picnic camp-out!
Where's that tub o' paint and brushes we had? Draw some pictures!
Play with your Barbies!
Where's all that American Girl stuff we paid a fortune for? Play with that!
Get off your iPod!
Get off my iPhone!
Get out there and water the flowers!
Clean your room!
Go jumprope!
Where's your sister? Go play with her!
Stop fighting!
When are you going back to school!?!?

The truth is, they did lots of cool stuff this summer despite the fact that we stuck it out Chi-town style the whole three months. We went to a Cubs game, several waterparks, mini-golfing, multiple playdates with their friends, movies, parks, festivals, gymnastics and volleyball camps, carnivals, beach time galore, air and water shows, shopping, and even a photoshoot!

Needless to say, today we are relieved that we are relieved of these pressure-filled duties and we gladly place that burden upon the shoulders of the private school administrators we pay to do this stuff for us. I know I will feel a twinge of loneliness because it will be waaaayy too quiet around the house when they will be in school and I probably won't know what to do with myself and my thoughts these first couple of weeks but I know that they are being stimulated on another level with their friends and teachers. And hopefully, I will be too. Until next summer, when we come face to face with this dilemma again. But this time I will be prepared, because I want to replace those guilty summer pressures with guilty summer pleasures.

Back to School?

by Patti

In 12 days, S goes back to school - as a SIXTH GRADER.  Yes, I have already mostly managed to work through the fact that my baby - the one I fed from my bosom for far too long; the one that cried out for me night after night after night after night after... you get the sleepless picture; the one whose legs would go into a frenzied, happy delirium whenever I simply walked into a room; the one who asked me to read her just one more story; the one who still holds my heart unlike any other human being has ever managed to do. Yes, that  one. And I guess, in my struggle to work through all of the emotions that come with having a real, live middle-schooler, I kind of forgot to buy school supplies.

S has been begging me since she graduated fifth grade two and a half months ago to please, oh please, buy her those school supplies. "You always wait 'til the last minute, Mom!" And though it pains me to admit it: I do. So after several weeks of prodding and poking and nagging, and whined-out-loud fears that she would be the only kid in 6th grade with no school supplies, I finally MOM made the trek today to do the deed I dreaded all summer.  As of now and a mere $100 later, her school supplies are neatly unpacked, labeled, and repacked into little take-to-school bags, ready to be carried through the halls and into the lockers and desks of junior high. The thing I've wondered since I started buying school supplies is this: How on earth are paper towels, Kleenex, and plastic sandwich bags school supplies?  I mean, the fact that I had to buy a calculator and $15 13-pocket FOLDERS for crying out loud is bad enough. But I also have to stock the classroom with Kleenex? As wallet-busting as it is, I've learned to accept this fact about school supply shopping, and though it seems suspicious to me that a sixth grader would need 48 #2 pencils, I just buy the stuff. And buy the stuff I did:

Take out a second mortgage and get your school supplies!

S now feels secure that she can embark on her junior high career fully-stocked. The only problem is, I also kind of forgot to register her for the school bus. And school.

I'VE BEEN BUSY.

So I went online to register and was happily amazed that I actually found S's user name and password to log on. But when I got into the ever-so-convenient online registration system, I received an error message telling me that "online registration is not available at this time." I called the school, and was informed that I would have to leave a message for the "computer guy", but that I should be aware that the "computer guy is very busy" and that he "might not" get back to me - but that I should leave him a message anyway. I asked the school lady if I could just pay her over the phone for the bus and school fees, and she told me I should do it online. You know, the ONLINE THAT IS BROKEN. So I asked if I should just come in person to register S, and she told me the office hours, which OF COURSE are only during my work hours. I thought about asking M to handle all of the registration paperwork, but we are talking about a man who can't even remember his mother's name, so there went that option.

12 days away from the start of school, I have $100 in school supplies, and no school in which to use them. I have the feeling S will be very, very annoyed with me if she bounds into school on the first day, her backpack loaded down with expensive calculators and 13-pocket folders, and she is turned away for crimes of procrastination.  But first, she will have to work her way onto the school bus, since she is not on the list. 

Kid, you're in junior high now. Time to get resourceful.