When our boys were younger, the end of the school year used to mean popsicles, trips to the playground, swimming at the neighborhood pool and unstructured play time.
I haven’t been nostalgic for those days, but I have noticed just how different summer break feels now that our boys are 23, 19 and 15.
Harris, our middle son, was the first one finished. I moved him out of his dorm at Mercer May 4, and he’s been home ever since. Barron, our oldest, was next, graduating from UGA May 10. He’s spent several weeks at home and taken a trip to Virginia. Our youngest, Carlton, wrapped up his freshman year at the School of the Arts at Central Gwinnett High School May 22 and has entered a two-week lull before starting summer theater productions and camps.
Because of their age differences, the boys never were in the same school all at the same time, but they were on the same Gwinnett County school schedule for years. That meant the last day of school was the same for each of them, and we enjoyed the unified day of celebration in various ways, including the aforementioned popsicles, a water balloon and squirt gun battle or trekking to Bruster’s to splurge on everyone’s favorite ice cream treat.
Now the no. 1 activity marking the end of the academic year is sleeping. The house is eerily quiet when I head off to work each morning, but I don’t begrudge them their shut-eye. I know the hours they put in before the end of the school year, so a few days of sleeping until noon or beyond is justified in my book.
We all feel the absence of academic pressure. I don’t actively worry about my children’s grades, but from August to May, it’s running in the background like a system file that eats up memory and CPU usage on your laptop. It’s nice to have a few months to completely let go of that anxiety for them and for us.
The past few years I have noticed that the boys invest their time during the summer on honing their crafts. Whether it’s their hobbies, career goals, or general interests, they prioritize spending time on what they value.
Last year Carlton worked at Camp Aurora at the Aurora Theatre in downtown Lawrenceville and performed in Smoke Rise Academy of Arts’ production of “The Phantom of the Opera.” This year he’s doing several weeks of camp at The Alliance Theatre and auditioning for a role in Smoke Rise’s production of “The Drowsy Chaperone.”
Harris is studying abroad for five weeks this summer in the Republic of Georgia. Last year he did an internship at the Atlanta Bar Association. Both this year and last our beach vacation was partially interrupted by his activities. He is learning the fine art of travel planning and has learned to navigate the Atlanta airport by himself.
Barron starts his full-time job at UGA’s Office of University Architects in June. He’s off to the real world beginning his post-college career where his internship left off. He spent last summer interning in that office and finding out what interior design and historic preservation looks like in a higher ed setting.
The boys are also less dependent on us during their summer breaks. Back in the day, Carla would spend all of her time entertaining them, cooking for them, cleaning up after them and refereeing their disputes. Summer time can be a slog for stay-at-home parents.
Now, if they want to meet friends for lunch, go catch a movie or even take a trip out of state, they have more agency to do that on their own. It does mean I have more than just my own calendar to keep up with. The summer calendaring session Carla and I engaged in took longer than usual and required some fancy color coding.
As they grow up and leave the nest, I am savoring this time more. Honestly, I took for granted those summers when they were younger. It seemed like they would never end as we cycled from one school year to the next.
But the last few summers have shown us that the days of having the boys home with no commitments for weeks on end are over. Every little moment we have to sit down to a meal together or play a game or watch a movie should be treasured.
Summer break has always been a highlight for me. Maybe it’s because my birthday comes in July or that’s when we took family vacations or when we had an above-ground pool for a few years when I was a pre-teen, but whatever the reason, it’s a time of year I’ve grown to relish.
I hope you make the most of it. I know I plan to.
New South Essays 