Today is Labor Day and once again, we find ourselves at the crossroads of where summer ends and fall begins. I always find myself feeling a little sad as summer ends because I love the warm weather and dread the cold, long winters.
This year, however, I don’t feel that same sense of dread because I know we will be spending our winter in Florida, which I am wholeheartedly looking forward to for many reasons, not the least of which is avoiding the cold weather. I am almost giddy at the thought of not having to wear a heavy winter coat, a hat, and gloves every time I walk out the door! To know that I am lucky enough to plan on wearing flip flops all winter, walk the beach with my husband whenever we want, and dine al fresco year-round has me actually looking forward to January for the first time in forever.
Growing up, we didn’t go back to school until after Labor Day, so for me, Labor Day weekend has always signaled the end of those long summer days, when I would ride my bike all day, go to the pool with friends, eat as many popsicles and as much watermelon as I wanted to stay cool in our non-air-conditioned home and catch lightning bugs outside. Summertime was freedom. It was long days and warm, balmy nights with no homework and Cleveland Indians baseball games on our tv.
When Labor Day weekend rolled around, I would attempt to stay up all night watching The Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon with my sister. Mom would always be telling us to go to bed and dad would always watch it with us for a while. Eventually, we fell asleep on the couch but I’m pretty sure I made it past midnight, which I probably couldn’t do now. It was our last hoorah! We were protesting the end of summer!
I never really felt excited about the beginning of a new school year. In fact, I hated the three words ‘Back to School” and I still don’t like them. This is why I could never be a teacher! Some kids couldn’t wait to go back, but not me. It wasn’t that I hated school because I didn’t. I enjoyed learning, but I dreaded the schedule and it always seemed such a long time before summer would come around again. The only thing that really excited me about a new school year was getting new school shoes and school supplies. I loved having a fresh box of crayons and clean notebooks. To this day, I still can’t resist buying notebooks when school supplies are on sale. I love a clean notebook and a new set of gel pens!
When I became a mom, my perspective changed a bit. I wanted my kids to be excited about a new school year and all the possibilities it brings, so I stayed positive for them. Like me, Alex liked picking out his new school supplies, school shoes, and backpack but dreaded the routine. Nick, on the other hand, thrived on routine, loved packing his backpack the night before, and was always ready to go with a smile on his face in the morning. He loved school. Alex was there for social interaction like his mother!
The school year started about mid-August for them so Labor Day didn’t signal the end of summer so much as it did in my childhood. With the kids already back in school, ( too early, in my opinion,) summer was all but over already. Some parents can’t wait for their kids to go back to school, and there are definitely some perks to that. Mimosas at the pool with the other moms and freedom to hit the gym then go out for lunch cannot be overstated. For me though, I loved having the kids home with me all summer. I no longer had to get up early and pack lunches. I didn’t have to make sure homework was done and every form signed that needed to go back to school. I didn’t have to enforce an early bedtime on my nocturnal son, and I didn’t have to keep cleaning the required white tennis shoes and ironing uniform shirts! The only schedules we had to juggle were swim team and t-ball. We were able to ride our bikes and go to the pool every day and see our friends. In short, I was able to relive the summers of my youth, but this time, it was so much better. I had these two adorable little boys with me everywhere I went. I was able to take them on bike rides, rollerblade in our cul-de-sac together after dinner, catch lightning bugs in a jar, take them for ice cream, draw with sidewalk chalk on our driveway, have story time in the hammock every day, and do all the things I wanted to do as a kid with them. Those were the sweetest days and I’d give just about anything to go back in time for a day.
So as we say goodby to summer, I am hoping that everyone reading this can reflect back on some truly enjoyable moments of this past summer and tuck those memories in your heart to keep you warm through the winter. For myself, I plan to stick to a schedule that has me exercising in the mornings and settling into a healthy routine that practices journaling, self-love, exercising and time spent enjoying the simple moments with my husband. May we all approach the symbolic new beginning that fall affords us with a Fearless and Faithful approach to life, and treat each day like the last day of summer, trying to squeeze out every last bit of enjoyment so that when our heads hit our pillows, we know we exhausted all our energy trying to live each day to the fullest like we did when we were kids.
