May is the New December

A few years ago I was smack in the middle of May and I was like, Hold on. This is reminding me of something…

• There is at least one moment each day when I need to be in three different places at the same time…
• Every morning I’m scanning my brain about what special clothing requirement, school supply, event, program, recital or gift I should be remembering about…
• I am finding it necessary to point out to my husband EVERY NIGHT just how impressed he should be with my ninja carpooling and coordinating skills…

And then it hit me. The holidays! This is like a warmer, less commercial version of that whirlwind we call December.
Along with all the fun in both May and December, there is a lot of stress at these times of the year. And to get through it, we all need a good laugh. Because if we don’t, we are going to cry – or eat chocolate. And so rather than break into a bag of Ghirardelli’s dark chocolate and sea salt caramels, this afternoon I searched out my all-time favorite blog post about the end of the school year by Jen Hatmaker. You guys, she’s nailed it. Tell me this isn’t how you’re feeling:

“You know the Beginning of School Enthusiasm? When the pencils are fresh and the notebooks are new and the kids’ backpacks don’t look like they lined the den of a pack of filthy hyenas? Moms, remember how you packed innovative and nutritional lunches and laid clothes out the night before and labeled shelves for each child’s work and school correspondence and completed homework in a timely manner?

“I am exactly still like that at the end of school, except the opposite.
 
“We are limping, limping across the finish line, folks. I tapped out somewhere in April and at this point, it is a miracle my kids are still even going to school. I haven’t checked homework folders in three weeks, because, well, I just can’t. Cannot. Can. Not. I can’t look at the homework in the folder. Is there homework in the folder? I don’t even know. Are other moms still looking in the homework folder? I don’t even care…”

Click HERE to continue reading (and laughing.)

I don’t know what part of this post made me laugh harder – the picture of her son in the Ben Franklin costume with the scarf hanging out the bottom of the vest, or how tiiiiiired she is and can’t face educating all 5 of her children “well.” That’s exactly how I feel! Costumes are the worst, and I think I could still be a pretty awesome mom if I had three less kids.
Here’s how she wraps up her end-of-the-school-year status:
“ So, Mom out there sending Lunchables with your kid, making her wear shoes with holes because we’re.almost.there, practicing “auditory reading” with your 1st grader, I got your back, sister. We were awesome back in October; don’t you forget that. We used to care, and that counts for something. Next year’s teachers will get a fresher version of us in August, and they won’t even know the levels of suckage we will succumb to by May. Hang in there, Mama. Just a few more days until summer, when approximately 19 minutes into our glorious respite from homework, liberated from the crush of it all, ready to party like it’s 1999, our precious children, having whooped and celebrated and “graduated” and squealed all the way home will announce:

‘I’m bored.’”

Hang in there, mamas! Soon this is all going to slow down. And when it does, let’s hope we can find something new to laugh about during the LONG summer ahead.