Back-to-School Calendars

Back-to-School Calendars

Summer is almost over, and the back-to-school season is just around the corner. Between the school supply lists and the endless back-and-forth of shuttling kids around, we can quickly feel overwhelmed, wishing we could cling to a life raft. Thankfully, bookstores exist, and with them, pieces of paper that claim to explain how to organize our time to squeeze out the maximum. These planners are all more inventive than the last, with spaces for vet appointments, reminders for homework, spots for grocery lists, and even a rotating chore schedule. All topped off with a sweet title, like “Taking the Time to Take Your Time,” and a delicate flower.

We cling to these life rafts: this time, we’ll be organized. We’ll follow the printed words. When the leaves turn red, we’ll only have pride in our super-early mornings, our perfectly timed days, and our lives that fit neatly into boxes.

But of course, we play this same tune every year. Whether we have kids or not, September breathes new life into us. We want to change, overnight, to become perfect, productive, flawless.

And, of course, every year, like the song of New Year’s resolutions, the plan falls apart. Did we not buy the right paper? Did we not stick the schedule straight enough on the fridge? Are we just a little lazy? Next year, it will work.

Let’s not forget that becoming someone else is a betrayal of ourselves. It’s, of course, impossible to change overnight. And it’s not even desirable. Because a perfect woman is a woman who doesn’t exist. Instead of living in fear of failure, under the pressure of a frantic pace dictated by pieces of paper bought at a high price, barking at our loved ones who can’t keep up with a schedule defined by little design boxes, could we not simply enjoy the last days of summer and the first of autumn?

The bed may not be made to perfection, the t-shirts may be wrinkled, but the children are happy. Instead of preparing for ruthless weeks ahead, let’s savor the sunny picnics, the ice creams devoured while strolling along a flower-lined sidewalk, and the splashes in the pool where the little ones jump while the older ones sunbathe.

Soon, it will be back-to-school time. And then, perhaps, we’ll think about which pumpkin to carve.

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