The School Year

All my life I've counted time by the school year. In California we began the year on Tuesday after Labor Day. New classes, new people...how long til Thanksgiving? Then how long until Christmas? The winter months passed slowly until Spring came and Easter Break (that's what we called it) was just around the corner. It was also known as Bal Week, short for Balboa because everyone headed to the beach to party hardy. With the final school vacation over, one could only wonder if summer would ever get here. It finally did, at the middle of June. School's out for summer! The lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer. And then in September it would all start over again.

I did graduate from high school and went on to college. After my BA, I got an MA. After my MA, I got married. The I had two children and it seemed like no time at all and they were in school.

In Oklahoma school starts in August. Each school district decides when to start so everyone is on a different schedule. And now we have fall break to anticipate before Thanksgiving. I was back in the cycle when my girls started school. The only difference was the in school time was more like vacation and the holidays were more work.

I became the school librarian when the girls were in lower elementary and I was totally back into the original cycle of a school year. I'm still on that merry-go-round, ready to greet kids tomorrow as they tackle their first day of school 2011-2012. I'll be tackling it right along with them.

And before we know it, the routine will be established and we'll be wondering, "When does Fall Break start?"

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