The Kids Are Going Back to School. Try to Contain Yourself.

Of course we love our children.  Deeply.  Unconditionally.  With every fiber of our being.

But also…

THEY’RE GOING BACK TO SCHOOL.  And if you just whispered thank God into your coffee, well, so did I 🎉.    

Summer is magical. No lunches to pack. No yelling on repeat to get those monkies out of bed.  No frantic searches for that one pair of olive green joggers.  No early morning laundry runs for gym clothes. No alarm clocks (that only you get up to turn off).  No taxi driving rounds twice a day. 

But summer is also approximately nine weeks of:  “I’m hungry.”  “There’s nothing to do.”  “Can you drive me?”  “Can he come over?”  “Can you pick us up?”  “There’s nothing to eat.”  There was something to eat.  They ate it.

And then September arrives.  Suddenly the house gets quiet again.  Your coffee remains where you left it.  Nobody needs to be driven anywhere at 11:17 a.m.  You can hear yourself think.  Is it wrong to enjoy it?

Absolutely not.

So while the kids get new pencils, new shoes and approximately 47 things their teacher requested…

We have a modest proposal:  Get yourself some chocolate.  Not because surviving summer requires compensation.  Okay.  Maybe a little because surviving summer requires compensation.  But mostly because tiny celebrations count.  A quiet coffee.  Ten uninterrupted minutes.  A piece of really good chocolate you don’t have to share.  And perhaps the greatest luxury of all:  Eating it without someone appearing from nowhere and asking, “Can I have some?”

Welcome back, parents.  This Date’s for you.