Something About Nothing by Julie Seedorf

Labor Day is almost here. The Minnesota State Fair is in full swing and school is right around the corner. Anticipation is high with both parents and kids, both having conflicting emotions about the start of school. Fall is right around the corner.

A viral video on Facebook called “Baby Got Class” is produced by Penn and Kim Holderness and they go by the YouTube name The Holderness Family. It is a classic example of feelings that parents experience when their kids go back to school. Day care is expensive during the summer if you have school-age children, schedules are out of whack because there are many fun activities with our kids and grandkids that take up our time. Routine gets thrown out the window.

I always mourned when school started because I loved the baseball games and summer activities with my kids. I was very lucky because I was a stay-at-home mom and did not have to juggle work, kids and activities. I didn’t have to miss the ballgames, which at that time took place during the day, or taking my kids to swimming lessons and staying to watch.  Most of the moms that I knew at that time in the world stayed home and worked at home taking care of the kids and the house. Today, parents have the juggling act.

If anyone my age thinks it is easy for today’s parents, they should follow a family around for a little while. Most of the juggling parents do is the normal everyday parenting routine, getting the kids to day care, to activities, having lunches packed and kids still get sick during the summer. Add to that the house to clean, clothes to wash, lawn to take care of etc., etc.

I have heard the words, “I can’t believe summer is over and school is starting.”

Yes, even during the non-routine of summer the time flies by. I, myself, am looking forward to getting back into a routine. I mourn the loss of warm weather and summer sunshine, but I look forward to getting back into a writing routine and more of a schedule.

You might think that being thrown off a routine wouldn’t happen to someone older. This summer I spent time flitting out and about with my children and grandchildren and husband. I was barely home. My cats at times didn’t remember what I looked like anymore. I met so many great people while I was out and about. Fun was the name of my summer.

Halloween and Christmas decorations are already in the stores. Somewhere in there they missed Thanksgiving. The season will pass and soon we will be saying, “I can’t believe it’s almost Christmas.”

All the television series that are geared for summer are winding down. Every year I am surprised in the spring when they come back on, because time has passed so quickly and it seems like they just ended. As much as we bemoan summer ending, the passing seasons seem to fly by quickly, except of course winter if you live in Minnesota. That season always seems extra long.

I have a few musings about my summer and fall approaching.

After spending time in the old United South Central school the past weekend I wonder how we survived school without air conditioning.

Will kids actually talk to each other now face to face? Will they remember what their friends looked like, since usually when I saw a teenager, they were plastered to their cellphones?

Will we remember how to navigate the roads without road construction or will we still be weaving out of the lane that had been closed into the open lane in anticipation of the construction that is no longer there?

Will I get out of my summer mode and back into a work schedule and actually fix my hair in the morning before someone calls me on FaceTime so they know I can look presentable. You don’t have to leave your house now for people to see you. Just had a surprise introduction to the pastor of St. Olaf College by my daughter on FaceTime. Remember, they can also see if you’ve cleaned your house or not.

How many backpacks will be needed this year to fill the need of those kids that need nourishment on the weekends? Will the numbers be up?

Will I remember the cliffhangers of my fall and winter shows or do I have to look them up on Netflix so I can pick them up where they left off? How good is my memory this year?

Will families come back to church and Sunday school this fall? Will they get back in the routine? Will I?

As with the words the music duo, Chad and Jeremy, sang in 1964 in their hit “A Summer Song,” “They say that all good things must end someday, Autumn leaves must fall,” we are reminded that the good things of the summer of 2014 has ended. We must go forward into the fall with new beginnings of a new season and we must remember with every ending there is a beginning. Anticipate the unknown.

“We come to beginnings only at the end.” — William Throsby Bridges

 

Wells resident Julie Seedorf’s column appears every Monday. Send email to her at thecolumn@bevcomm.net. Her Facebook page is www.facebook.com/sprinklednotes.