Really? Did we have summer already and now we are going back to school (or trying to)?

It is such a weird feeling, as on one hand, I feel like we just got the stay-at-home order and we are still in March and waiting to finish out the school year. On the other hand, I feel like I have been with my kids for years and they have not left the house in a lifetime. Now that we are talking about school starting and how that is going to look, I sit here and wonder where summer went. My whole life, summers have been filled with pool parties, crawfish boils and boat rides, and a friend coming over. This year, I felt like I have been working seven days a week and playing a constant wait-and-see game where the rules keep changing. Somehow in the middle of all of this, summer came and went. 

I want my summer back and I want my kids back in school, and I don’t want to have to teach them.

Don’t get me wrong, I want to be safe and I want everyone to be safe. I guess what I mean is, I don’t have to have the old normal back. I just want something consistent with a plan, and I understand that may not be possible, but I can still want it. It will be hard on all of us parents this fall, and it may get worse before it gets better, but we have each other and trust me, this too shall pass. 

So let’s get the little ones back in school. Take a day off and just sit at home and enjoy the quiet, and get a few friends to come over for a mid-week summer bar-b-q, just like you would have done this summer, but we are instead doing it in August. Share your mid-school day bar-b-q pics with us with #iwantmysummerback. It will be good for you and your soul. Just don’t forget to pick up the kids at 3 p.m. ■