Back to School
The Rivertowns Enterprise
Friday, August 24, 2012/ Page 57A
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From ‘School’s Out’ to ‘Back to School’ By TODD SLISS
here are two very powerful sayings each summer, one at the beginning, one at the end. Let’s just say the one coming up isn’t the topic of an Alice Cooper song. Yes, ladies and gents, it’s “Back to School” time. It’s almost like an entire season of the year unto itself. Whereas “School’s Out” is a bit of a countdown and a period of winding down before summer, what we are experiencing now is the exact opposite, a time of nervousness and preparation. And that’s on the part of the students, the parents and everyone at the schools. With my older of two sons entering kindergarten this fall, it’s finally go time. Things are about to get serious. He’s about to embark on a 13-year journey that will lead him somewhere — perhaps to college, a trade school, the working world, traveling, or something I have yet to even know or understand. And to pilot this journey we have picked a school district in which to live — not just a house, but a house based on a community fit to nurture our kids — and now it all begins. For us it wasn’t truly Back to School last fall when our son went to preschool for a half day from 9-12 — now we have bus routes, finding out his teacher and (more importantly) his classmates, getting school supplies for the first time, getting him back on a human sleep schedule so he won’t be fighting us in the morning when it’s time to get ready for school, which starts at 8 a.m. and runs to 3 p.m. That’s seven hours, a long day for a 5-year-old. (Note to parents: That’s also seven fewer hours they’re spending with you or seven fewer hours you’re paying someone to teach or watch them in addition to having already paid your taxes. Especially when it’s your first child, this is the moment you’ve been waiting for!)
While my wife is handling many of the BTS logistics — she already did the school supplies order, has been talking to other moms about teacher assignments, bought the new sneakers and plans to take Henry to the bus before she heads to work each morning — I’ve got something on my plate, too. In addition to the work-from-home-dad thing I’ve been doing for 5.5 years (and have three more on my sentence with my younger son), this past spring I started doing another dad thing — coaching soccer. My unofficial volunteer assistant gig for eight weeks last season has now turned into, “We need you to be a head coach this year.” Though I prefer more of the backseat when it comes to all of this stuff, it’s an under-6 program, nothing I can’t handle with seven kids after having a good mentor over the spring. Plus I get to have five or six hours of training in a couple of weeks before I’m even allowed to step foot on the field as a head coach. Soccer was something we started early for various reasons, none of them truly having to do with soccer (c’mon, it’s the first sport most kids play for a reason — kick the ball and don’t touch it with your hands). My son knew kids from preschool, the town day camp and a cooking class he took through our recreation department, and we figured with this he could run around and meet more kids. It was a win-win for him and for us — as parents we get to know more of the wonderful people in our town. And so we transition into the real deal, an exhilarating and nauseating experience, depending on who you ask. The countdown is now at 11 days and with the exception of getting the bedtime schedule in order, I’d say we’re all set for Back to School. Of course, for many that also means that other countdown to Alice Cooper begins on the first day of the school year.
Our little boy isn’t such a little boy anymore.
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