Back to School and Dad's Confused??

Remember the good ol' days when summer would start to wind down, the days would begin to shorten slightly, and discussions of Labor Day cookouts would filter throughout the neighborhood. Labor Day has always traditionally been viewed as the symbolic end of summer, and, for students, the beginning of the academic season. So it was for this author. I remember that first day of school each year hovering around the end of August or the beginning of September, depending on the aggressiveness of the county or that phantom fear of necessary snow days. My how times have changed.

As the father of a loving 7 year old son, I have the opportunity to relive those early school days through his bright and precocious eyes. Imagine our mutual surprise as we reviewed the newly minted school calendar, only to realize that the first day of school for 2006 falls bright and early on August 8th. Yes, the 8th - that is not a misprint. Allow me to provide this precursor - school is very important. Education in general is very important. My son's education is very important. All that being said - Michael got robbed!! The school system managed to steal away an entire month of summer for their own greedy purposes. Instead of playing in the creek and sleeping until 10am, Michael will be suffering through math problems and looking for his library books.

OK,OK...it is just a school day, right? In by 8am and out by 3pm, so that leaves the whole of the evening to enjoy the summer weather and catch bugs and ride bikes and do all those other relaxing kid-type things...or so you would think. How quickly we forget about homework. Or in my case, how quickly I do not remember homework to begin with. My son is a second-grader. I remember second grade. What I do not remember is homework in second grade, or in elementary school for that matter. Yet, Michael comes home every night with at least an hour of work to filter through, books to read, and study guides for us to review together. There goes some more quality outdoor summer playtime.

Now for the truth...I don't really mind school starting a little early. This schedule simply frees up time at the end of the school year. Nor do I mind homework and the opportunity to work with my son each evening. Homework time is great father-son time and a great opportunity to stay involved. But Dad is still confused. It doesn't seem that long ago since I was in elementary school. It doesn't seem that long ago since I was sweating over spelling tests and multiplication tables. It just doesn't seem that long ago since I was a kid.....did I mention how old I feel right now.