Back to School Blues
I’ve always hated Sundays. It was the most dreaded day of my week, made even more dreadful by the fact that summer vacation was over. It was time for all those insipid back-to-school commercials. Summer was gone and now it was time to face the cold reality of having to get back into the rhythm of things.
Was I going to meet anyone I liked in my class? Did the teacher grade on a curve? Weekdays would be ruined all over again. Bed times and homework would fill my schedule. The florescent lights of public school would drain my will to dream. All in all, it would not be fun.
When the dread subsided into an ever-present anxiety and the routine of school kicked in everything would be fine. But before I could get back into the routine I’d have to get over the back to school hump. The only bright spot in all this dread was back-to-school shopping. Buying the right cloths to blend in with your classmates was crucial.
If you stand out, you run the risk of ridicule. I went with my mother to all the generic clothing stores. These days kids have the luxury of shopping online, and saving themselves from hearing the dull, lifeless music only department stores can collect. If I had Google when I was in school, life would have been that much more convenient.
Then there was the matter of school supplies. Finding the right binder, the right set of pens and pencils became paramount. Should you wait for the first day to ask about which rule the teacher preferred — college or wide? My coping mechanism for getting back into school was imagining all the fun I would have on the weekends. Whether that was a new movie release or toy shopping excursion, I would try my best to prepare. Looking back, I wished I had taken more chances and not cared so much about what my classmates thought. I wish I had been less encumbered and more adventurous.
If you would like to make that anxious school kid in your life a little less anxious, try sending him or her some awesome back to school gifts. The right one can mean everything.
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