Letter From Katie – Back to School: Days of Summer Give Way to Chaos

It is officially August. If you listen closely you can hear the cheers of parents everywhere as the school doors prepare to open.
I’m not so eager to join in on that parade.
For me, the start of the school year means we are entering the season of chaos. And this season lasts nine months.
First we start with back-to-school shopping.
The list of supplies your child needs is long and specific. The office supply aisles at the superstores are war zones.
Folders (must be blue, double pockets), pencils (pre-sharpened, 24 pack), and notebooks (three-subject, spiral with dividers) litter the floor. Elmer’s glue sticks fly around like shrapnel.
Then we deal with the open houses, parent nights and conferences at the start of school.
If you have more than one child in the school system, you will need to clone yourself to make it to every event.
You also should invest in a storage unit to contain all the paperwork you will receive.
Once you finally feel settled into the school routine, the flyers start coming home.
Afterschool clubs, sports programs, tutoring, extracurricular classes – your child will want to participate in something.
You can either hire a driver to handle the erratic schedule that is to come, or invest in a Crockpot because you will never be home in time to make dinner in the evenings again.
I will never understand why parents dread summer break so much.
Sure, day camp for kids can be expensive. Or if you are a stay-at-home parent, you start to feel like a cruise ship director trying to keep your kids entertained.
But some of us mourn for the summer days of fewer commitments and more time to just enjoy being together.