Back to School

As I've said, I go back to school on August 1st. That's pretty early. At least it's not July, though, like it was the year before last.


I'm not talking about year-round schools or anything. Our district has decided that an extra week or two of instruction at the beginning of the year can only mean better scores when the state tests come around in March. Why don't we start school in June for maximum exposure and have our break in April and May? Or just test students in May to determine improvement over a complete year? You got me.


Luckily, that isn't my point today. Instead, I simply ask where does the summer go?


I start off with such lofty goals. I want to fix things that drip. Weed the lawn. Patch holes in the walls. Even dust the ceiling fans. No, I don't WANT to. These are just things I CAN do (with the possible exception of the plumbing), and I feel like I SHOULD. 


So I set myself up for failure, knowing good and well it's going to take a lot more than a few unattached hours a day to get me to open up that toilet tank to see why the water won't stop running.


Exactly what have I done? 


We drove to Utah for a week to visit family. Spent a couple days in Steamboat Springs. I took the boy to toddler swimming lessons every day for a couple of weeks. Those are a half-hour long, by the way. My twelve-year-old likes to cook, so she was in a cooking class for couple of weeks. That required my driving skills to get her there and back. 

I had to stare out the window on road trips when I was a kid. He gets in-flight movies.

I read some books, watched three seasons of Fringe, played Pipe Roll on my iPhone. Some of those mazes take way too long, sir. I saw the new Spider-Man. It was pretty forgettable. Took the kids to the Aquarium to see the mermaids.

My daughter took a while to admit it. But she wanted to see the mermaids more than anyone else did.

That's enough, right?

I dunno. A copy of the Denver magazine 5280 has been in my bathroom for months. It's cover boasts "The Ultimate Summer Guide" and that inside I will find 21 amazing Colorado adventures. How many times did I open that up to find something to do with my family? Zero. How lame is that?

I know all of you nonteachers are reading this going, "He's complaining about being paid to not work for ten weeks. What a goob." To that, I only have to say, "Nah nah nah nah nah."

Except now I'm not ready to go back. Students come back to school next Tuesday. That's four days to prepare. Two of those days are already used up so we can be developed professionally. That's always time well-spent. One other day will have meetings of some sort to fill the day. That gives me one day. One day to put together a classroom. Like, literally. Well, perhaps not literally. The room is already has walls and stuff. But I had to move my room to a new room at the end of last year. And I still have to arrange. Books, files, wall hangings and decor, technology.

All that and figure out what I'm going to do next Tuesday.

Can I just take a personal day?