Deborah Woehr

My boys will be heading off to school tomorrow. In prior years, I was relieved to have a break from the fighting even if it meant fighting with them later to get their homework done before dinner. Not so this season. We went on a special vacation, to several movies, had the occasional lunch, and watched the Olympics together. During the down times, they entertained themselves most of the time. There were a few scuffles (hey, they’re boys), but nothing memorable.

Today was the last day of summer for all three of us. The last day to sleep in, the last day to do whatever they wanted. The oldest finished his first homework assignment. Yes, you read right. His school assigned homework last week, and they weren’t even open yet! Over the summer, he was supposed to read one of the books from their list. Guess when he started? Like I said, he’s a boy.

My youngest did what he always does–play several rounds of video games and watched his favorite TV shows. Right before dinner was ready, I asked him to do the dishes. He began stomping around to the point where I asked him what was wrong. “Three hours of summer vacation left,” he said, totally bummed out.