Schooooool's out for the Summer!

Oh yes it is! Yesterday, as I attended the Lip Synch which is last day of school tradition at our school, I found myself getting embarrassingly misty more then once. I'm not sure why, but the emotion connected to the end of any "era" always chokes me up, even if it is just the end of a school year. I had to keep coughing to hide the fact that I had tears in my eyes in response to such touching lip synch renditions of "Soul Man" and "Footloose". To say I get easily carried away may not be inaccurate.

As I walked home with the kids, Benj told me that he could not understand why he did not feel more excited. He said he had felt a lot more excited the year before. I explained the concept of anti-climax to him but my heart fell a little because I remember being not too much older then he is when I found myself deeply troubled one year by the lack of hysterical excitement I usually felt in early December at the end of our school year. It just was not the same as it always had been, and after trying unsuccessfully to summon up the overwhelmingly excited feelings I previously experienced at that time of year, I finally reached the conclusion that it was one of those many unfortunate by-products of advancing age.

This is one of the many up sides of having kids. You get to vicariously revisit in some measure, that boundless excitement that you felt at their age. Until they don't feel it anymore and then you get to vicariously feel the let-down. You win some, you lose some.

I am hoping my kids have a great Summer. We made some goals and plans during Family Home Evening last night to help prevent it turning into one long sweaty TV watching fight fest. In the past they have used their Summers pretty well, but again, there's the age factor creeping up on us and I fear that the time will soon be upon us when Benj does not find it as thrilling to play invented games with his siblings all day.

Tomorrow I will post my plan for keeping the "Mom I am Bored" moments at bay. It's brilliant I tell ya. Well it is in my mind. By the time it is executed and described I suspect not so much, but still...every little bit helps eh?

And on a cool note, the Principal of the kids' school kindly emailed us the criteria of Gabe (and Benj's) aforementioned Citizenship awards. I think it is nice for them to actually know what they were recognized for. I will print it out for them with the intention of guilting encouraging them them to live up to it. I'm thinking of instituting a similar "award" for around these parts. Perhaps the trophy could be a Wii....hmmmm. The criteria may be adapted as follows.

The criteria were established by the school staff as a means of identifying students in their classes that distinguish themselves as outstandingly good citizens and serve as leaders to the other members of their class. Students receiving the award have been nominated by their teachers as exemplifying the following: The student shows a positive attitude toward all classmates, teachers and staff; (parents and siblings)

The student does the right thing because it is right; (not because they have been threatened or bribed with promises of a Wii or never having a Wii)

The student volunteers to help others; (volunteer means do it before mom starts the 1,2,3 count)

The student participates in school and/or community service; (does not inform their mother upon not finding their favourite shirt in a drawer stuffed with 20 other clean shirts that she "could maybe do laundry more often", but instead offers to help her do said laundry by not hoarding it at the bottom of their closet)

The student exhibits a sense of fair play in recreational activities (including the playground); (does not prompt their sibling to shriek of fears for their life at the hand of said student/sibling and does not consider letting their sibling play with the computer for 20 seconds out of 20 minutes a fair compromise)

The student exhibits good behavior and is respectful; (does not try to subtly check out their Pokemon cards during family prayer or inform their mother upon not finding their favourite shirt in a drawer stuffed with 20 other clean shirts that she could "maybe do laundry more often")
and finally,

The student shows school Pride through all actions (tries hard not to embarrass the family through loud accusations of abuse during Sacrament meeting etc)

A huge, huge


(that's THaNk YoU!!!!!)

To these wonderful teachers to whom we entrust so much. You are all saints!

I'm reading: Schooooool's out for the Summer!Tweet this!