Summer is so weird.
Lisa made a valid point that the 4th of July feeling like a summer midpoint, when for most of us it is less than halfway through (for us, around 1/3 through, actually).
AND YET, I just received a text today about charges for a school-issued Chromebook (for A) and field trip fees. And it made me think about the fact that the start of school — or at least the start of when we start thinking about back to school — is not that far away, either.
I think many of us are in a phase of life where things just seem to move quickly, and therefore every season seems short. And then we often feel like the next stage or season just sneaks up on us, like some kind of mischievous time cat burglar or something. The *worst* culprit in sneaking up is Jan/Feb, because it’s a WHOLE DIFFERENT YEAR so it can’t possibly be soon enough to think about, right? But the second worst is probably fall, because no one is really in a planning mood in the summer.
(ALSO – the actual season of summer is June 21 – September 23. Yet when I think of summer – aka Quintile 3 – it really means the weeks when school is out, which for us is June 12 – August 18. Very different!)
Planning Fall . . .
So on that note, I recognize that “Planning Fall” is not at the top of everyone’s list right now. There are beach trips to take, camp hellos/goodbyes to celebrate, and poolside fun galore. But when 2023 started, you probably though through the first several months — probably into summer. After all, it was this year.
Yet I have do NOT feel like I have a handle on Sept – Dec the way I DID have a handle through May – Jul in January. And I am probably not alone in this. I admit that (even to me) it doesn’t sound that enticing to figure out right now. But not doing it might mean limited options for some of the things we want to do during those months, so . . . I hope to have at least big rocks (mostly travel, Josh’s call schedule, etc) sorted out in the next couple of weeks.
(Also, at least one of those trips is with a group of others – my college BFFs! We have the dates identified, but there are 6 of us and we seem to have some group inertia preventing us from actually booking anything which is making me — and only me — nervous. Ha.)
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School summer vacation in my country starts on July 1st for elementary and June 21st for high schools, school starts on September 1st, so 4th of July is very much the beginning of summer here. Yet I also have the feeling that time sneaks up, my birthday is on July 4th and I can’t believe it’s in less than a week.
I can so relate to wanting to figure out fall right now. I am supposed to travel with friends for a mini milestone bday AND have Thanksgiving at the beach AND help my HS senior apply to college. It’s a very lot in a short time, and I am already planning.
This fall will be our first time being on a school calendar since our oldest starts K. School starts the week after Labor Day, but Thursday of that week for Kindergarteners. The public school he will attend gets out at the end of the 2nd week of June. So the 4th is very much NOT half way like it was for me when I was a child (we were out the Friday before Memoria Day and back around mid-August). And when I didn’t have kids in school, the September return to school date was meaningless! I’m trying to not base my “summer vibes” on the school calendar, though. We will still have hot weather through much of the month of September, so our September weekends can still feel summer-like. And for us, we need to hold onto those summer vibes as long as we can since summer/hot weather is such a brief season for us. BUT – I am very much thinking about fall! I ordered Paul’s backpack from L.L. Bean (searched your blog to remind myself what brand you recommended!) and school shopping lists will come out in early August, I think. We don’t have any fall travel and rarely travel during that time of year, and the way we celebrate the winter holidays is pretty set so that means less planning. But I know that as the kids get in more activities, things will look very different and more planning will be required. I’ve also booked my travel out through October so my work schedule is kind of set, too!
Those LL Bean backpacks hold up FOREVER! And I’ve even put them through the washing machine 🙂
Sarah, this is apropos of nothing in this post BUT we just got an email today from my (large, academic/university) medical center that they are starting billing for MyChart messages! I know you have discussed in the past the extra work that comes with answering these messages and I am pleased that my institution is taking steps regarding this issue. (This is also making me re-think how I approach the ‘curbside consults’ that I do – I’m in a research role but with international expertise in a very niche subject and so field a lot of questions for free. I don’t mind BUT it does take a percentage of my time that right now just comes out of grants and really should be more clinically-related). Interestingly, though, they also included this language: “Based on the experience of peer institutions, we anticipate that only a small portion of MyChart messages will result in revenue to the institution. However, we believe this is an important step to value the real work being done by our clinicians and staff members.”
Just thought you might find this of interest!
That is so awesome!! You will have to report back on how it goes!
wow! this is amazing!!!
First day of T’s summer holidays! We had an afterschool picnic and celebrated with his 2 closest pals.
But mentally, timing is funny. I finished teaching in late April, so I feel like my summer is over, and his is beginning. He goes back mid-August and I go back mid-September.
August is our festival season – so we have fun tickets booked for things in the city.
I have already filled in the “big rocks” on the fall calendar. Went through both school districts’ (mine and kids’) calendar and saw that, to my dismay, they coincide very little. I start work on August 28th, the kids start school: September 11th (!!!). But that is okay- we’ll figure it out. Big rocks: kindergarten and pre-school, Halloween, NJ Teacher convention, my oldest 6th birthday and Thanksgiving.
OMG, I feel like things are constantly sneaking up on me and I am hopelessly behind. How is it July tomorrow?
And for us in Australia everything is much different! Our school year is with the actual year, normally February to mid December and our seasons start with the quarters. Spring 1st sept, summer 1st dec, autumn 1st March and winter 1st of June. I dont do goals starting 1st of January since kids started school. I do them the first week of feb when school goes back! I then plan for them in 10 week blocks as the kids do 10 weeks at school then 2 weeks off so at school for a total of 40 weeks..