Yesterday was the first day of school here in Pennsylvania and I’m already over it. I know marketers (and most loving parents) refer to this ‘season’ as BTS (an acronym for Back-To-School), but in my world, I just call it BS. It’s the same as BTS, but the ‘T’ is silent.
Maybe it’s because my oldest is a college sophomore and my youngest a high school junior — or maybe it’s just because I’m not and never have been particularly sentimental about my kids starting school each year — but we don’t make a big fuss about the first day of school anymore.
Admittedly, this is my fault. Mostly. But I also blame the kids (and my husband). I have boys, so they really aren’t interested in all the hullabaloo, and most years, it’s just not worth the argument. You have to choose your battles, you know, and the BTS crap is not one I’m willing to fight. At least not anymore.
It wasn’t always this way. When my boys were younger, I did make a bigger fuss. And when they were much younger, they actually sort of enjoyed it. New clothes and sneakers, clean backpacks and lunchboxes, fresh haircuts, and the obligatory first-day photo taken by the front door … Their smiles were even genuine.
But those days are long gone. I’m not even sure my kid brushed his teeth this morning. He woke up grumpy, grabbed a collection of mismatched clothes from the top of his clean laundry pile (correction: they were on top of the “too small now, time to donate” pile), and slumped out the door without his football girdle or mouthguard, which meant I was making a trip up to school later in the day.
So here we are, another school year with O back on his bullshit about being organized and on-time. I could have made him change his clothes into something nicer that matched and fit, and I could have forced him to stand still for a photo. But as I said before, you have to choose your battles, and the back-to-school/first-day-of-school fight is not a hill I’m willing to die on.
And we are all better for it. Trust me.
-LJDT
