Instead of beach towels, picnic blankets, water guns, and a selection of the aforementioned beach balls, I saw a huge display of school supplies. Backpacks lined one wall while notebooks and pencils filled bins.
While I understand the concept of shopping for school early, my inner teenager is crying out, “It’s still summer!”
How am I supposed to get into Back-to-School mode when the sun is shining and temperatures are peaking at 110?
How am I supposed to buy backpacks and and notebooks when I’m still in the mood to buy sidewalk chalk and snow cone machines?
With Joseph starting school in less than four weeks, I know, logically, this is an appropriate time for the stores to put out their displays. Emotionally, I’m still thinking long beach days that meld into warm summer nights with no homework, no class projects, no worry about getting the kids to bed at an appropriate time.
I think back to my own school days and remember starting every year the day after Labor Day. I remember having the full month of August to ride my bike around the Island, to laze away days with a good book, and to wear cut off jeans that were so worn by the end of summer, they were almost as soft as cotton.
I don’t think we had school supplies in the stores until August, at the very least.
Then again, I was too busy eating ice cream to pay much attention.
