Things have a tendency to fall apart in our household around the first week of May. The weather has warmed up enough that even if we do have some more rain and clouds, enough of the “nice” weather has shown its face to make the inevitability of summer obvious. The end of the school year is well within sight, and social and extracurricular activities shift to spring/summer things, which makes it very challenging for the teenagers to keep their minds in school.
It gets harder and harder to get the kids out of bed and out the door on week day mornings, but their weekends are busy and full with all sorts of friends, games, movies, parties, etc. appetites increase, as do conversations about plans for summer. It is obvious to me that sitting in classrooms and doing all the upcoming end-of-the-year projects and reports are definitely NOT priorities. Each of my high schoolers is having a very tough time staying focused with only 5 weeks left of school. This time of year always feel like a march to hold things together until the last bell rings in June.
In the nearly two decades that I’ve been parenting, I’ve often wondered what it is like for the teachers at school–I wonder if they are having a hard time staying focused too? I imagine as they look out at the beckoning warm weather and open the windows to let the breezes blow through, they are also imagining three months of other activities. After nine months of lesson plans, behavior issues, and reading students’ papers, they must certainly be eager for a little more flexibility and freedom. I’ve always figured that those teachers are as ready for a break from my kids by mid-May as I have a tendency to be by the end of August!
See Also: School Isn’t the Only Place to Get Educated and Summer and the Single Parent