August has finally arrived...football has officially started, hockey--well, hockey never ends, and the hot temperatures we expect to experience in the summer months have finally arrived to Chicago! This is the time of year that is always a bit bittersweet for me.
It's hard to believe that school will be starting in two weeks--and for those in high school, it starts this week! Where did our summer go? When I asked my boys, "can you believe that summer is almost over?" they didn't seem as disappointed as I thought. So I wondered, does time fly by faster for adults than it does for kids?
When I was a kid, summer lasted for forever! It seemed to officially start with Orland Days--a big carnival-type event in our community, and a chance for all of us kids to go out on our own and just hang out. Back then, our parents didn't have to worry about us being out and about on our own as much. We left the house in the morning and came home for dinner. On hot days, we spent the afternoons in my backyard by the pool. Some weekends, I was lucky enough to go to my friend Mary Beth's cottage at the lake! We'd go blueberry/strawberry picking in the woods, float on inner tubes made from real truck tires til the moon came out, and live with our bodies encased in OFF bug spray. Back then, there were no travel baseball teams--but our local youth baseball league always had it's big All Star Game over the 4th of July weekend, and after that the players chosen for the All Star Game got to play in one or two tournaments in the area.
As an adult, I am constantly balancing between family-related needs and work-related needs. I was fortunate to ease that balance a few years ago when I transitioned into a faculty role at our university and now have July, August and half of September off. Still, feeling the need to "get it all in" during those two months the boys are off has had me feeling a bit stressed at times. Hence...where did that summer go? It just flew by. And, I'm not the only one feeling this way. This is the comment I've heard among most of the parents at football over the past week and a half. That, and the fact that 90 degree temperatures have finally arrived in Chicago, after experiencing a summer with the average temperature of 68 degrees (according to the National Weather Service!).
My boys seem eager for their "fall" sports to get back into gear. While my older son played on a baseball team that participated in tournaments in July, and he truly only had one week of "break" before football began, he was excited to get back to "the gridiron"! He really enjoys baseball, but he LOVES football! My younger son has been playing in a 3 on 3 hockey league over the summer and attending a few hockey camps. His sport never seems to end...and yet, he spends much of his "home" time in the summer down in our basement shooting on his net, or in the garage stickhandling! He LOVES his hockey!
So while I expected them to also feel a bit bummed about summer ending, their response was more of excitement. They are thrilled that the sports they love are finally starting back up. And as for school, I think that they are actually looking forward to seeing their friends they haven't had a chance to connect with all summer. They don't seem so disappointed at the fact that they'll be back in the classroom in two short weeks...but perhaps for them it will feel like two long weeks!
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