Saying Goodbye To Summer

Today is the saddest day of the year here in Weaselville, for tomorrow is the first day of school for the elementary age Weasels(and the first full day of school for Eldest Weasel). It is with great sadness that we say goodbye to our friend, summer vacation, until June 2009.

We have an awful lot to do today. We need to lay out the uniforms and shoes et. al., pack the backpacks, distribute supplies and make sure everyone is bathed. We also have a special mass today with the Bishop. He is coming to do the official dedication of this brand new school, that will be officially open for business tomorrow. After the dedication there will be slight joy for the Weasels in the form of the parish picnic. Games, snacks and desserts should help them enjoy their last hours of freedom before the shackles of school are once again thrust around their ankles.

We do cherish our lazy days of summer around here, that are anything but lazy. There are a lot of things we never got around to doing, but we also managed to squeeze in loads of fun. It's hard to believe how fast the time goes. We will continue to take advantage of the summer weather and activities in the few hours of sunlight left after homework is complete.

The Weasels are in a complete state of depression over their impending imprisonment. They are all good students, who genetically inherited the "I hate school" gene from their mother. They believe that school is just another way for "the Man to keep them down", and that homework is designed to completely suck all of the hope and joy out of their lives. Recess is the only part of school that allows them to maintain their sanity and refrain from complete despair.

The first few weeks will be fresh and new, so somewhat tolerable and interesting for them. After that it becomes a downhill slope of darkness until the light at the end of the tunnel, Christmas break, is in sight. With the entrance of January, smiles once again fade away until they feel like they are circling the bowl by March. April brings a glimmer of hope, offering longer days and slightly better temperatures, which can only mean one thing. Summer will soon be here. But at the same time feeling like a marathon runner at around mile 20, forcing one foot in front of the other with sheer willpower of reaching the finish line and being able to reclaim their lives for themselves.

About May they will begin to dream about not being pulled by the ankles out of bed and force fed breakfast, and no more marching gulag style to the car before they wipe the sleep from their eyes. AHHHHH, better than sugarplums dancing. They know that soon they will be living the Phineas and Ferb lifestyle once again. It's the only thing that keeps them pushing on.

Youngest Weasel too will join the ranks of school goers this year. She, opposite of siblings, is happy and excited. She wants to be a 'big kid'. She wants a teacher of her own. She wants to learn to read and have homework and a back pack and a lunch box. The rest of the Weasels just shake their heads in pity for her. Little does she know the horrors of the road she is about to embark on. Sweet naive youngest Weasel, they only wish they could save her from this awful fate, like a mother who encourages her daughter not to begin shaving her legs just yet because once you start you have to always continue. Or the Daughter who prays for puberty to start, who's mother silently hopes for her daughter to avoid that cross as long as possible, for she will soon enough have to deal with it for the next 4 decades.

So with the Weasels feeling as helpless as the French people on the day before the occupation, they will wave their white flags and go along with the program. But one day, I fear all too soon, they will form a resistance movement. I can already picture them strategically planning which bridges to take out and how to sabotage the car.