Back to School

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The years pass quickly, don't they?

I recall being excited to return to school for the start of the 9th grade because I had a brand new Bills shirt that I could wear on the first day.

Sam is starting 9th grade this year. My last kid in high school.

He isn't excited for any of it.

He has plenty of Bills shirts.

Yet there's a sadness when the kids return to school and Camp Clifford closes up for the year. I had been able to leave a few instructions for them as they stayed home all summer and Sam usually worked to get the every day tasks started at least, and Jake mowed the lawn at a rather leisurely pace.

Now they will be talking homework.

Kathy will have to force them to get to it.

Arguments will ensue about their chance to get it done in study hall.

There will be missed assignments.

There will be days when I get this message:

"Going to __________ after school. Can you pick me up?"

And the days will pass quickly.

What do I recall about 9th grade?

Algebra...for the first time...not knowing what the hell was up there or why they'd mess up perfectly good numbers with letters.

Crushes...on girls...and wondering why they were suddenly as important as sports.

It's taken awhile to figure that one out...

...I'll let you know.

The future...knowing that the grades meant more in high school...my parents telling me to work harder so I could get into a good college.

Yet thinking back, I know that there will be time.

Even as Matt starts his last year of college, and Jake starts his final year of high school.

There will be time for them to figure it out a little.

It doesn't have to be all angst, all the time, for kids.

"Why didn't you empty the laundry basket?" I asked Sam one day last week.

"I'm enjoying my childhood," he said.

Matt had said that for years and years and years.

I'm glad that they've been able to do that.

There are a lot of the other kind of days.

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