No More School, No More Books, All the Teachers Have Happy Looks!

 

The #1 son's second-semester schoolwork

That’s all she wrote. Today is the last day of school. The #1 son, exempt from all his finals, went to school for about an hour. The #2 son only has a Spanish I final to take, and then he’s done. It’s the end of an era for #2, as he sheds his top dog middle-school status and becomes low man on the high school totem pole, playing opposite his big brother, who will be a big senior on campus.

I tried not to feel too nostalgic as I dropped the lazy #2 off at our neighborhood middle school (where “neighborhood” means less than a mile from our house) for the last time. I’m finishing up six straight years there, and it’s hard not to feel attached to a place that’s nurtured your kids, trying to get the best out of them and prepare them for high school. It’s the end of an era for me, too.

But I’m not going to miss those middle-school years at all. They involve too many hormonal kids who are too full of themselves for their own good. The #1 son’s three years of high school so far have been more on an even keel, with #1 being able to stay in his little world without a lot of hassles from kids who have nothing better to do than bully those who don’t fit in their same mold. I’m hoping for more of the same for both boys next year.

The #1 son is about to catch a disc thrown by the off-camera Mister.

Now it’s summer! Which means early-morning summer conditioning at the high school for #2, working at dad’s business for #1 (very reluctantly!), and several trips. Oh, and there no doubt will be plenty of splashing in our backyard pool!

The #2 son reaches for the disc as he splashes into the pool.

Every year the boys like to invent new games to play in the pool. So far this year, discs have been all the rage. They’ve set up the portable backyard disc golf baskets so they can try to throw the discs into it from the pool. Monday they had a blast trying to catch discs thrown by the Mister as they jumped into the pool. Timing is everything!

The #1 son tries to grab before he splashes. Is he walking on the water?

#2 also is trying to perfect the walking-on-water trick!

As for me, I’ll be doing my best to enjoy every minute of not having to make lunches every morning, scurry kids out the door on time, and help complete projects at the last minute. “No more school, no more books, all the moms have happy looks!”

Well, at least until mid-August!