Dear June,
You are my biggest, most dreaded Frenemy. You are the end of the school year-but start of summer month I live for – and hate all at once. You stink, in the sweetest, sunniest way.
And let me count those ways:
It all starts with good ol’ Day Light Savings Day. We might think we’re all springing ahead in March, but by June the nights are brighter and the kids wake when the sun rises – which is about 5am.
And try having the convo with kids that they still have to go to bed at 8, when it looks like play-in-the-park weather outside. Ahh, June, your beautiful sunshine and long days of brightness are exhaustingly making me pull my hair out.
But a little whining at bedtime and tired kids waking up too early day after day.. I can handle that. It’s the stuff that everyone piles on to June that make me wonder.. WHO THE *#& DO YOU THINK YOU ARE??!
I mean, seriously, June.. It’s the last month of school, so we have to fit EVERYTHING in to you? Why not start some of it in your kid-sister May, and make this a tad easier to swallow. Amiright? Let’s see, all school events have parent participation requested. So we’ve got: Field Day, Portfolio Shares (when your sweet Kindergartner stands up and shares her work from the last year. I mean OF COURSE we are going to that), Portfolio shares for all grades (now it’s getting a little much), school concerts, End of year parent-child mid-day picnic, Teacher appreciation luncheon, fundraising bake sale (please bring something we can sell like hot cakes!), Math Morning (wha??!). I get that these are all mini celebrations of our children’s accomplishments – but could we just put them in one day, please?
And of course all those end of year reports and projects. Hold on. Just let me Google “How to make a diorama on a bill becoming a law” and I’ll print out our 120 easy steps.
And those are just the school events. Don’t forget that in your beautiful weather, you have outdoor sports and practices and recitals. I mean June, you are so much fun mixed with the pain and suffering of having so much going on at once.
Oh and all my kids have summer birthdays, starting in June, so there’s that too.
But I still appreciate you June, because you are the start of something great. You are the last month of an exhausting school year and the start of an incredible summer full of celebrating, playing and making memories – with my besties July and August.
I will prevail, June, I always do. You are just one month. A mere 30 days. And I’m gonna take you one day at a time. I know you’re staring me down with your beautiful sunshiny-ways, your Evites and teacher emails, your sparkly tutus, shoeboxes carefully turned into branches of Congress, and birthday parties.
But by July, I’ll be chillaxing like this mom by the pool we all live to be one day.
So congratulations to all the parents powering through June (or having just gone through this home stretch in May).
Love,
Katie
An Open Letter to the Month of June
