The Dog Days of August

In a little more than a week, Joe and J.P. start school for the 2021 - 22 academic year.  Joe, at USN in 3rd grade and J.P. in his debut at MBA in 7th grade.  For the first time in a while, the boys will be at different schools which, of course, will present a variety of logistical challenges for Jude and me.  It's been nice for the past three years to have them at the same school.

This week, neither of them has a camp or anything similar to go to during the day.  That makes for a relatively lazy final week of summer, although J.P. does have cross country practice every afternoon at 3 p.m.  I'm pleased that they'll have some down time because, in summer, it often seems that they're weekly schedules are jam packed with basketball camp, baseball camp, zoo camp, Camp Whippoorwill, Camp Widjiwagan, etc.  

Camps for the boys are a necessity for working parents like Jude and me, of course.  Still, I seem to remember a lot of down time in the summer when I was a kid.  Watching television, readings, laying around.  Not a better way to do it, in summer, just different. 

I'll probably write more another time about my hopes and dreams for J.P. at MBA but I do know, for sure, he's going to be challenged academically and socially from the get go.  That's partially why I'm happy for him to get some down time this week.  The calm before the middle school storm, if you will.  I'm also happy for him to have some time to clean up his room because boy, does it need it.  Clutter - mostly sports related - everywhere.

It's been funny to watch Joe walk around MBA's campus when he has accompanied me to pick up J.P. from cross country practice in the evenings.  Shoulders rolled back, arms swinging confidently by his sides as he walks from the football field to the baseball field, chin up.  That's just Joe.  Big personality. Confident.  Doing individual workouts at MBA in the new basketball facility with Coach Amos this summer has made Joe feel more at home, too.  

Over the weekend, I laughed and told friends that Joe probably thinks he'll be the first 4th grader to attend MBA in history next year, a tall task given that the school is 7th - 12th grade.  Again, that's Joe.

Last week, J.P. spent some time with his friends, Cooper and J.D., both of whom he's known forever.  They're 8th graders at MBA.  At a pool party at J.D.'s, J.P. got to meet some other 8th graders which I'm hoping will give him a head start on meeting boys once school begins next week.  

Where did the summer go?  The same place it always goes, I guess, quickly receding into the scrapbook of memories in my mind as our boys grow up and older every year, every month, and every day.  Time is getting away from me, I know, and I find myself, sometimes, reminding myself to enjoy the stolen moments. 

It's hard because I'm so busy at work, as always, and there's always the next thing to take care of for a client.  So much of what I do is deal with people in crisis in their personal lives, so every call or meeting is important and, sometimes, fraught with emotion.  I have a 4-day trial upcoming in the next couple of weeks, too.  It's a lot.

Nonetheless, we keep on keeping on.  School is upon us and maybe, hopefully, fall weather isn't far behind, although it doesn't feel like it today, in the dog days of August.