8 Ways Moms Know it's the End of the School Year. -

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Packed lunches are not what they used to be. You know it’s time when your kids’ school lunches start to look like a random batch of whatever you could find in your pantry, which is exactly what they are. When you start to use the leftover hamburger buns for your kids PB&J sandwich and pair it with a fruit snack (it’s fruit right?) and a few goldfish (who needs veggies anyway), or worse you just skip the PB&J altogether, you know you’ve been burnt out on coming up with lunch box ideas all year. Now I usually don’t get too fancy on lunches, I’m not the mom who cuts her kids’ sandwiches into star shapes, kudos if you are, but by the end of the school year my kids can certainly see the decline in the quality of their lunch sacks. They seem to let it slide though. I think they realize it will only be a few short months until I’m back wowing them with new and exciting lunches.
You allow the minimum requirements for homework. The struggle here is real. Sitting down with your kid everyday to grind through homework can be tough. If you have a kid who gets home from school and happily opens up their homework assignments to finish them with minimal help and zero complaint, well, I hate you. Chances are though, you’re like most regular parents who have kids that need a little convincing to start working, keep working, and finish working. When the month of May hits I find myself asking my kids if they saved any homework passes. I’ll take all the help I can get at this point. I mean, are words finds really all that critical to the educational process? Did you use your spelling word, I ask? Then yes, your three-word sentence is exceptional.
You figure if they are dressed and wearing required footwear it’s all good. I have boys who refuse to wear jeans. They prefer athletic pants. A specific kind of athletic pants. Despite having several different pairs they stick with about three. I don’t get it but I try to keep up with the laundry schedule to keep up with the demands, sigh. Despite my best efforts it happens on occasion that those particular pants do not get washed. Even though they have likely already wore them two days in a row (or maybe even 3) I watch them dig out the said pants from their dirty laundry baskets and put them on. On that 35th Wednesday of the school year it’s a battle i choose not to fight and instead turn around and walk back down to the kitchen. Someone has to be the stinky kid at school that day, mine might as well take his turn. On the other hand is my daughter who 5 minutes before we leave has decided that she is not a fan of the first outfit she put on, the one that I laid out for her, and she needs to change it. “Fine” I say but you better be in the car at 8:20am or I’m taking you to school naked. If you refer back to the bullet point above which states clothes are required you’ll realize that this is an empty threat. At 8:26 she finally shows up at my car wearing a black and white flannel top and white leggings polka dotted with black cats. At least it’s the same color combo I think to myself. “Get in”, I say, and off we go.
You stop caring how long it takes your kids to get out of the car in the drop off line. I mean, hello, how many times this school year have you waited for other parents’ kids to finish braiding their hair in the side mirror or the parents getting out of the car to leisurely open the back end to pull out backpacks, lunch boxes, musical instruments, school projects, and then takes the time to hug and kiss each of them individually. I have one word for those people, CURBSIDE! Then there are the handful of days (or several handfuls) that you have been afraid to be those parents so when your kids are taking longer than the maximum time you think it should take them to still adhere to drop off line courtesies you find yourself yelling “get out slow pokes, you’re taking forever”. These endearments are of course immediately followed up by your soft friendly voice expressing “have a great day, I love you”. Can we say bi-polar?
You find yourself figuring out to the penny how much money you absolutely have to deposit in their school lunch accounts in order for them to make it til the end of the school year. Look, I know school lunches are relatively cheap but it seems like every other day I’m getting an email stating my kid’s lunch account is low on funds. I mean what the heck are they eating, gold? By the end of the year I’m over it. But thank heaven for Papa John’s pizza days, those are the best days ever.
You start stressing about end of the year teacher gifts. Although you might feel the gift of having your child in their class for the year was reward in itself, it has become the “new norm” to provide a parting gift for your child to give their teacher so you feel obligated to find the perfect one. Because after all you do appreciate them and all they do and are really just grateful that they choose education as their career path so you don’t have to homeschool. The gift of course has to be simple, and thoughtful, and bonus points are given for creativity. So you scour Pinterest for ideas, the website that has stolen your ability to have any original concepts of your own, until you discover the kind of gift that your child will surely be remembered for. After three Pinterest fails you give up and go buy them a Starbucks gift card that’s now cost you four times the actual face value.
You start compiling an epic list of summer activities to keep your kids busy so they don’t drive you crazy. Isn’t it funny how us moms totally look forward to summer coming. Then put massive amounts of logistical energy into entertaining them because you know if you don’t they will drive you to the mad house in 72 hours, max. Let me give you a jump start on this. Here are a few summer activity favorites from yours truly.
Your donation meter is pegged. This feeling starts with spring pictures. Then there are field trip “donations”, class snacks during state testing, class parties, last ditch efforts for fundraising, raffle tickets, end of the year school wide events, water days, game days, movie days, STEM days, room mom requests, an endless number of some member from some committee needing something, and do I dare mention those teacher gifts again. Then there is the request for our time. Can you volunteer for this? Can you volunteer for that? Who can run the game booth? Who can chaperone the cake walk? Here’s the kicker. As moms we have this innate sense of generosity ingrained into our DNA that compels us to give to everything that involves our kids. It’s called guilt. It doesn’t matter if it’s money, time, or 32 individual packs of goldfish that is being asked of us, we do it. Because to not would reflect poorly on our mothering capabilities. Come on jones’, stop making it so hard to keep up with. Ok, ok, it might have a little something to do with how much we love our kids and that we would do anything for them, despite what the Jones’ are doing.

When all is said and done the school year will end, summer will begin, and we will enjoy every second of it’s laid back but still cray-cray vibe. At the end of it we will be ready to holla “happy new school year” as we send send them off with their fruit cabob filled lunch box and an apple shaped rice crispy treat for the first day of school teacher gift.

Cheers to the best ever summer.