Keep an eye on summer

Sweltering heat and summer's song slipping away...all this wrapped up and tied with a bow courtesy of the month of August

Something happens to me on August 1. It happens to be my sister's birthday but that's not the reason I feel so strange when that date rolls around every year. There's usually at least three weeks before professional development takes place, and another week after that before students come back, and yet on August 1 I always feel a sense of excitement and dread at the same time. This year it's heightened and it's not because I haven't gotten out of bed before 9 a.m. in almost a year (which isn't true anyway)-it's more complicated than that I think. I admit I love the thought of teaching again-I missed it terribly this past year. So when I see commercials for the myriad of back to school sales that are going on right now, I can't help but crack a smile, and depending on the commercial I might outright laugh. Come on now-you can't help but be amused at Meijer's current ad that features kids who are happy to get school supplies, then the ad reminds you those same kids are paid actors and real kids will never be that happy to get school supplies. However this ad pales in comparison to my all-time favorite: a Staples commercial that features a mom singing the popular Christmas tune 'It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year' as she dances through the aisles at Staples, followed by her son and daughter looking incredibly miserable due to the thought of going back to school. Classic.

So there's definitely an amusing aspect about going back to school, and there is also the anticipation of the sounds of fall that I love which usually occur at football practices and band camp. But the dread persists. I'm not looking forward to failing at one thing or another, or disappointing some students and those things will happen-it's inevitable because teachers are human. (Oh the horror of that statment!) I'm also not someone who's big on changes-I've been through a lot over the past year, and I'm going back to what used to be stable in my life only to face more changes, including enduring the daily grind of work without friends who I love who have moved on with their life through retirement. The dread persists. The one good thing...it's only August 8. Keep your ears open for whining and moaning coming from my neighborhood right around August 29.
Howl on, howl on brothas and sistas.