School Days, School Daze Part I

School starts next week for my kids. The had a full 2 months of vacation this year! However, I think that they haven't really experienced summer break like those of us over 30 did.

For example, many of us old farts did not have satellite or cable television unless we lived in larger metropolitan areas. The rest of us had to entertain ourselves by other means. Here in the rural south, we used to go to lake a lot... to swim, fish, water ski. We would hang out and go camping. We would help out our family and neighbors with yard work, many times not expecting a reward and extremely grateful when we did receive one.

Many of us who had cars (and I am not talking about the showpieces kids drive today but the 10-15 year old junkers that needed oil whenever we stopped for gas) also had jobs in order to pay for the necessities such as gasoline, alcohol, and cigarettes. (Yes, I am talking of the ancient days of lore.) We flipped burgers, took orders, mucked stalls, mopped floors, delivered feed, washed cars, plowed fields, helped with the family... you name, someone was doing it. And we had fun doing it because, especially during the summer, we were working side by side with friends.

Furthermore, most of us were paid either a flat rate or a minimum wage that was half of what it is today. We didn't care because we had cold hard cash to spend.

When school started, we still worked. The only difference was we were expected to also maintain the highest grades possible. We had an active vocational program then, one where the students who were not interested in college could excel in their talents... be it agriculture or carpentry, auto body repair or cosmetology.

Now I have one in high school, and see such a different world through her eyes. Many of the kids she goes to school with have no idea how to do anything. The expect to be paid for everything they do including making decent grades. Only a few that I have met in their workplace environments actually take pride in the job. Most simply exist in that space, waiting till its time to clock out. They drive cars that I would love to be able to afford and wear new clothes every week. They cuss inf front of us old farts (something we would have died before doing when I was their age... not to say we didn't cuss... we just knew when and where was appropriate). Curfew is a joke, and sleeping around is consider the norm rather than taboo.

I am just in shock! I am trying my best to keep my kids from becoming jaded, lazy, non-performers but it is difficult. It seems I am constantly telling them to help around the house. I am constantly telling them to get a job if they want money. I probably have been painted as an evil witch to their friends, but I don't care. There are lessons that they will need to function in the real world... like job ethics, the desire to excel, the importance of money, the benefits of failure, and the rewards of success.

When I go to the store to purchase the needed school supplies, I will once again be taken over by memories of my childhood... but I will also be humbled by my new position as teacher.

Hooray! School Starts Soon!

Only two more weeks until school starts here. And I can hardly wait!

Don't get me wrong. I enjoy spending time with my kids, but it is so much different now that two of them are teens. I enjoy the constant in and out of their friends, being asked to hang out for a while with them as if I still count as a cool person, and the ability to maybe just maybe pass along some of the hard earned wisdom that I think I possess.

But teens are herd animals. They graze constantly. They do no consistently clean up their messes, though for some reason the visiting teen will be more helpful than those who actually live in a house. When the herd does dispense to go to their own dens, there is always the chance that something will be left behind. The more important the item, the more likely it will be left at someone else's home, creating a frantic situation to locate said object scant moments before it is needed.

Work shirts, athletic shoes, textbooks or project notes for summer projects, even car keys from riding over with someone else have the treasures sought. The phone calls usually comes from a cell phone, and if the missing item is here it is only a matter of moments before a car squeals into the driveway (no small feat considering ours is made of gravel) and the relieved teen rushes into the house and thanks me as if I had managed to find the cure for final exams.

Their enthusiasm usually leaves me with the incredible need to take a nap.

The one who usually feels left out is Alex. He will try to fit in with the teens, dragging out his most prized action figures or video game in the hopes of being included. Anne, the oldest, usually doesn't mind and her male friends will get down in the floor and join in a good old fashioned battle of plastic warriors. Alan, though, is trying to establish his place in the teen world. At 13, the ultimate blow to his ego is when Alex interrupts the teen rituals of listening to really loud music by bands no one will remember in 10 years or the consumption of the pizza bites while discussing how the establishment just doesn't understand today's youth.

It doesn't matter that before the herd descended upon our house, he had been engaged in the battle of all battles in video game supremacy against Alex while playing Lego Star Wars or that they will still watch the same cartoons. Alan is trying to fit in with the older kids, and it is a surprise to him to know that these cool, older guys still play.

The real reason I will be glad when school starts is not that the chaos will somewhat diminish here in the house, but that my three kids will be back in their respective comfort zones. They will be able to put into practice some of what I hope they learned this summer. They will be exposed to new learning opportunities.

And maybe, just maybe, they will miss the time they spent together this summer and the bonds between them will grow.