After Summer What?!!

(Published in www.bkhush.com)

“Oh no, summer is done, I need to go ‘back to school’ “Sofia says.

“Good, now I can go ‘back to school’” Shan says.

 

Some kids like school and some don’t and so the reactions may vary.But, being a mom, I know what a parent would say after a long two and half months of summer vacation!

“At last, the kids will go ‘back to school’! “A sigh and a big smile would cross their lips.

It might sound like the parents are cruel and don’t want the kids at home, but that is not the case. However much the parents love their kids, the ability and strength to control the kids 24/7 in the house, giving in to their tantrums, heeding to their suggestions and delivering their choices, is sure not an easy thing.

Out of their daily school routine makes the kids demand more time for sleep, play and eat. This disturbs the schedule of the parents and the kids too. Every day starts out late as the kids tend to sleep in, which is usually due to their staying up late along with their parents or siblings. Watching movie with the family or playing family games with the cousins, hypes up the energy level of the kids and they get used to staying up late.

Getting up late in the morning spoils their routine and the schedule of breakfast, and lunch too. The time that they play outside on a summer evening increases due to the long days and hence, the dinner time gets pushed back. Everything changes, the time for their bath, the time in the bath, the picking out of outfits, the fights between siblings, the pillow fights, the endless hair combing to the forever lying in the swimming pools, everything is timeless and endless.

The flip side of the coin is the enthusiasm the kids and the parents have regarding the new class and/or the new school that they would be going into once the school reopens in fall. The new books, the new backpacks, the new lunch boxes, are all an excitement in itself. And shopping for these keeps them on their toes and makes them happy. The advertisements and the back-to-school sales attract the kids and parents alike and hopping from shop to shop for the best deals keeps their time engaged for a while.

When I was a kid, most of my summers were spent in my grandparents’ house that we used to go visiting. All the cousins together used to fight for attention from our grandparents and wished to be their favorite grandkid forever. But when it was play time, we would just forget that it was scorching hot south Indian summer and play outside much to the anxiety of the elders that we would get a heat stroke. Most of our evenings would be spent sitting around our grandfather with snacks in hand, listening to his stories of cases he had dealt with as a judge in court. Or on other days, we would go with our grand mom, mom and our aunts to watch a movie.

But thinking of school again toward the end of the vacation was exciting too. I remember how excited I would get in my childhood, awaiting the re-opening of school. The back-to-school regime consisted of getting to wear new uniforms too back then. In new uniforms, with new backpacks, loaded with new stationery, going back to school was always fun for me. I also waited going back to school to see all my friends again after a long vacation.

Spending time with family is great in summer time, but going ‘back to school’ to a new grade with new things in tow is an achievement in itself. It always makes the kids feel more grown up and responsible, and this shows in their glowing faces and growing statures too!