This is the first May in three years that I am not in a frantic scramble to find a school that meets our tween’s ADHD needs.  CAN I GET AN AMEN PEOPLE!????  Big sigh of relief over here because let’s face it- May is a challenge all its own without added drama.

We’ve talked about it before – you know the drill.  Moms everywhere are run ragged in May with endless to do lists and dozens of year end programs that really WE COULD DO WITHOUT.  More places to have to show up to requiring showering and non yoga clothes.  Um.  No thank you.  We are already busy trying to fill the endless days of summer  because our sanity depends on it.

We are desperately perpetuating the autopilot ballet we have mastered so well over NINE MONTHS (oddly enough the exact amount of time it took to make these little people) that keeps all the balls in the air at all times.  You know, the chauffeuring, the homework checking, the school project nightmares, the flow of clean uniforms and PE clothes, the endless buffet of meals!  Is anyone else wanting to board up their kitchen?  Please family.  PLEASE.  Just stop eating.

All these things are in continuous flow for eight months.  Then May happens.

May shoots out of a cannon creating shock and awe with Teacher Appreciation week.  Now these are amazing people who truly deserve to go on a weeklong cruise, so WHY DON’T WE JUST POOL OUR MONEY AND JUST GIVE THEM THAT??  Instead, we have themes for days on end where somehow we have to remember when to bring in flowers, or candies, or poems or some random thing that I can’t imagine them even wanting. So on top of all that’s required we do an additional litany of things that we feel would be more appreciated.  This year I’ve spent an entire week at school helping to put on an over the top lunch each day for these amazing teachers.  I’ve loved every minute of putting smiles on their faces and yum in their bellies.  What a privilege to serve them!  But it’s exhausting and I’m pretty sure I’ve gained five pounds and need to sleep for five days to regroup!!

That’s just the start. Next up is all the events.  Poetry recitals.  Plays. Concerts.  Art showcases.  Muffins with Mom.  Five or more field trips.  Class parties.  Sign ups for at LEAST ten events along with permission slips. Don’t get me going on snack sign up for this stuff because I just made more than fifty enchiladas when erroneously sent a reminder from school that ended up being from LAST YEAR!  Could’ve used that info before step #25 in enchilada prep!! This is all in addition to the litany of regular stuff. AND this requires showing up AND dressing up.  Just getting these kids together and to school is a challenge, now WE HAVE TO GET OUT OF THE CAR AND ADULT?  Please make it stop.

So by mid-month, our crumpled to-do lists are in hand and Chariots of Fire is blaring in our heads and we vow to see it to the end because summer is coming!  And that means no homework and no alarm clocks and no driving before the sun comes up and NO PACKING OF LUNCHES!  It’s a beautiful thing.  And we are almost there people.  Just keep walking toward the light while you cross those items off your list.

As for me, I’m celebrating early.  I know that’s dicey since we are just at the end of week one and May can be sneaky.  But I’m not searching for a new school so right there I AM WINNING!  And my tween is making some strides.  Dare I say – flourishing  even – just a tad?  And my teen is barreling through high school like a boss.  And there’s this clenched fist full of confetti I’ve been carrying around for a long time but haven’t had cause to use since we’d been school searching and switching. Luckily I’m an optimist and I’ve kept it handy – even when dragging through the darkest of the valleys – hoping to use it one day soon.

It may take a crow bar to pry my contorted white-knuckled hand open at this point, but summer’s coming and I’m launching some confetti.  Come join me and cheer on the dawn of JUNE!!!!