Dear Self,

Settle down.

This first week of school (known by some as the end of summer), your boys make their way in a languid state down the stairs to the kitchen and stand confused like little zombies smack dab in your brisk walking path. They stare listlessly into the abyss of morning and wonder a list:

What do I do now?

Where am I going?

Where are my socks, and how do I put them on? 

It’s making you a bit anxious. SUMMER IS (KINDA) OVER, YO. GET YOUR BAR STOOLS AND SEE HERE THE BREAKFAST I MADE TWO INCHES FROM YOUR PRECIOUS-BORN FACE? EAT, MY HEARTS, EAT!!!

Don’t be all that way. Be kind and calm and guide them gently to the sock basket, a venue established some seven years ago by the entrance to the kitchen.

 

Bring a Little Summer Into the School Year

 

You’ve enjoyed a different kind of structure since the end of May. It was dreamy, yes? This summer, you remained more mindful and present in moments and days rather than in a constant state of looking forward to the upcoming Fun Time and and then also the Unfun time (that’s the Fun Time about to end) and thinking things like this fun time will too soon be over. Well done.

Boy in splash park. Open Letter to Self at Beginning of New School Year

Yay, memories! Stick with that sweaty summer feelin’. Carry it over to the now. It’s not like summer meant no work. (Heavens, there is always work.)

Dwell not on the frustrations of your children’s lack of manners in the hotel breakfast bar on your trip to the Colorado Rockies or how you drove over a big thing in the middle of I-70 that clanked the undercarriage of your new minivan.

That’s not what people are asking about when they ask about your summer.

Don’t you remember the joy of meeting up with friends for a day on the waterslide built into the side of a mountain: the day you also spent a few minutes swimming laps and collecting rocks in frigid water of that swimming hole and then eating humongous ice cream cones with your boys and friends BEFORE supper?

Yeeeesssss. You do. Keep on doing that stuff when you can make it work out.

Sure, you would always, always take another week or so of summer. You’ll miss the boys actually sleeping in a little and playing together upstairs before trotting down at any given time of the morning. And everyone reading on the couch without cares of the world. You’ll miss being all like I’m Not Your Cruise Director, Now Go Play In the Woods but also, Hey, We Have Errands in Town So Let’s Eat Lunch Out Somewhere.

Young brothers out to lunch in the summer

You’ll miss those brake-and-turn-in stops for shaved ice in town. (No doubt the drivers behind you won’t.) You can still do that…shaved ice stands are still up and running. (Thank you, Labor Day.)

Keep wearing that cool summer hat and enjoy fruity drinks with you and yours. 

Keep calm and carry it all on. Put those kids on the bus and take a few minutes to settle before jetting about the work of your day

Structures change. Routines get switched up. Don’t exchange your summer attitude for what shouldn’t be a stressed-out season.

Now, make plans to sit a bit in the afternoon sun. Don’t forget your drink. 

Sincerely,

~ Self