Summer, Summer, Wherefore Art Thou?

As you probably remember (or maybe not), I complained a tad this past winter about all of the snow we were getting. I am not a cold weather person. Ever. Really, below 70 degrees is pretty chilly to me. Once I am chilled, it may take all day for me to warm back up. I don't like the bleakness of winter, no leaves, no flowers, no green, only browns and grays. Christmas is one of the few highlights, but really, it is over in just a couple of days. More than ever, I resented every snow day we had this year. Well, maybe not that first couple of days when we had just returned from Disney World and I need to recuperate. But the rest of them I did. (Note: I didn't resent the school district for calling them...they were a necessity. I just resented all of the snow causing havoc on my calendar!) It wasn't completely selfish. January and February are usually my best teaching times or rather the best kid learning times. They just absorb like crazy then. Once we hit spring, they get restless, and then it is hit and miss.

The big part was selfish though. I like summer. I like that "lazy" feeling of summer. The freedom to get up when I want, eat breakfast when I want, do what I want with the day. Well, as much as is possible with kids. And while there are many people who think teachers have a "whole summer off", it just isn't true. We actually return a full week before the kids do, and this year I will be returning a little before that. We have workshops to attend, a room to set up (that doesn't typically happen much that first week we officially return since we are in workshops), etc. This year, I think we figured out that we will have about two months of "summer", not counting the early days I will return for...

All that to say, I am getting the itch. The summer itch. I want summer. I am still teaching like it is any other time of year, but the kids are done. They have that look in their eyes, that look of knowing that they are at the end. The weather hasn't helped. It feels like summer. It looks like summer. It just isn't summer. At least not for me for another eleven days (five school days).

Summer, summer, wherefore art thou, summer?