#tri-countypress

Remember the fable about the ant and the grasshopper? The first stored up his food for the winter and the latter just fiddled away his time and went hungry later on. As any gardener or farmer could tell you, this Summer has seen many a grasshopper. And though he may not be storing anything away, he seems to be getting his fill!

When I was growing up, Mondays were “Wash Day” and Tuesdays were the day to iron. My mother used psychology and said I was the “Best ironer around.” So my Tuesdays were pretty busy. Once school started, this activity occupied every afternoon when I returned home. Those were the days of wash and wear fabric. The only way you could wear them after washing was if you didn’t mind looking like you wore them to bed!

The items were washed, rinsed, put through the wringer and then hung out. Before ironing they had to be “sprinkled” with water. Once wettened they had to be ironed right away or else put into the refrigerator. If time ran out and you didn’t want the clothes getting an odor, we’d pack them in plastic and freeze them. I was sure I was the only girl in my class who had to defrost her favorite blouse before school!

In some ways, we are each a product of our childhood. For me, and to the checkbook’s dismay, one trait I developed was that of a bargain hunter. When I see a “good buy” I usually stock up. Consequently, I seldom run out of anything. This sounds rather admirable, wouldn’t you say? 

“Believe half of what you see and none of what you hear.” That admonition of long ago has proved to be so very true. This can be amended to “and little of what you read.” I was once the subject of a two-page feature. The pictures were false as I don’t usually dress in my Sunday best just to practice the piano. In fact, when I read the finished article, I almost didn’t recognize the character!

A relative living a thousand miles away called on the phone to see how the blizzard was affecting us. (He had heard about it over the TV network news.) By that time, the sun was blazing and the snow nearly melted.

A Washington correspondent tells us that the news of the day is contrived to show what is supposed to be shown. I always wonder what is being neglected when a “hot” story is being headlined at each and every newscast, with specials even?!

When your family includes young people, the seasons of the year don’t agree exactly with what the calendar says. Winter is when it’s cold and snowy with Christmas either coming soon or just past. Spring is when coats and mittens can be left behind for sweaters and Fall means you might need a jacket for a football game.

Summer comes the day school is dismissed and ends the day classes resume. So summer is almost done! In just a little over a month, fall will un-officially be here and the lazy, crazy days of “freedom” will give way to schedules, routines, alarm clocks and different kinds of “fun” and “work” than the past few months have presented.

What is the first day of school? To a five-year old, it’s bravely taking the long walk or that huge bus alone and going off to a strange big people’s world without Mom or Dad. It’s calling the teacher “Mommy” before telling all the family secrets. It’s not realizing that this day is one of at least 12 more to come in their career of learning.

To a junior high student or freshman, it’s being the “little kid” all over again. Changing classrooms and teachers is just the start of being expected to act more grownup. It’s all the activities that will only increase as they progress through high school. As these next four years are flying by, it’s a time of contradiction. In one moment, the students can go from being “too young” to do what they want, to being told they are “old enough to know better.” High school is good times and a time of problems nobody seems to understand.

For the parents it may be a moment to shout–until they realize that each first day brings their child one year closer to leaving home. It’s finally the end to back-to-school shopping. It’s trying to be helpful without doing too much. It’s hoping that by the time their child gets to school, he or she will realize that Mom and Dad DO know something after all.