Why heading back to school is awesome!
“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes.You can steer yourself any direction you choose."Dr. Seuss
Three cheers for Back-to-School!
Of course, it's August and today's temperature will reach 90 degrees, so in no way is it "fall," but still, it is a happy, happy day!
Why do I love today?
It's not because I'm sick of my children, ready to pack lunches, or dying to get up at 5:30 am. It's not that August 4th is a reasonable start date for school. (I bet a committee was in charge of the decision!) It's not even that I've missed having a predictable routine.
Nope. I find returning to the grind just as painful as anyone rolling off an epic summer.
Still, I put the Back-to-School season in the same category as New Year's. I love today because it screams "potential."
New Pencils Fresh Paper New Teachers And, more importantly, clean-smelling lunch boxes!!!
Yes, I love the little things!
Even more than all this, at least for me, the school calendar helps me number my days.
If it weren't for all of the imposed deadlines - the meet & greet, open house, conference days, early release, testing days, blah, blah, blah - I could practically keep my appointments in my head.
Instead, school forces me to pay attention to the calendar, and when your "short people" are quickly becoming your height, this is a good thing. In fact, my inventory today reveals a few daunting facts.
Ellie has 2,631 days left until college. Josh has 3,284 days.
Fortunately Josh has decided he's going to attend either UCLA or GA Tech for an engineering degree, so that decision is locked and loaded in plenty of time! Whew!
Drilling down, there are only 29 days before Labor Day (AKA - the time when reasonable people go back to school! I know, it's a sour note, I'll stop now) and 43 days before fall break.
Only 117 days remain before Thanksgiving and 142 days until Christmas.
Spring Break is a mere 244 days away, and in 289 days we'll be back on Summer Break.
I have some friends who tell me "counting days" is depressing, that they'd rather not dwell on how quickly time passes. Reality can be brutal sometimes.
I understand how tempting it is to live like the days are never going to end, but in practice, acting like you have all of the time you need with your kids is a foolish approach.
Think about the idea in a work environment.
If you start a business, launch a product, or begin ANY initiative, don't you first consider the parameters of the job? Imagine trying to build a house without knowing architectural drawing and calculating how much it's going to cost.
Don't you evaluate your resources, the money AND the time you'll need to do the job? Of course you do.
You have the same opportunity with your family.
Today (or after Labor Day!) is a fresh start. It's a beginning and a time to pause, plan, and be intentional with the days ahead.
Ahead is, after all, full of potential.