I think I've been brainwashed that Wayne County's school schedule is THE school schedule to follow no matter where you live. That's why I've been so messed up this year. This is our first year involved in the public school system here in Waterloo Region. First, starting school in September messed me up. I felt like we were falling so far behind because *everyone* else had already been in school for several weeks and here we were, still playing outside in the sprinklers! Kindergarteners have a staggered entry which meant that Stephen didn't really start school until the end of September.
Then we seemed to miss every other Monday and every other Friday all the way up to Christmas. Canadians love their holiday Mondays, so we have one a month. The teachers love to have their professional days, so every other Friday we had off, if not a whole day, then a half day. (Maybe there's a slight exaggeration here, but not much!)
March Break is just that... March Break. It's not around Easter. No sir. It's in MARCH, no matter when Easter is. It's always the same week, and the entire province of Ontario has the same week off! How silly is that?! Thousands upon thousands of school age children are let loose all in the same week! McDonald's playlands are packed. The Butterfly Conservatory is nuts. Flights to Florida are overbooked. Why do they do this?! Not even Wayne County had the same Easter Vacation for all the districts involved!
Now I'm really messed up, though! We have two more days of school left. June 26 is our last day. Mentally, I'm still back at the end of May because THAT is when school ends! NOT the end of June!! I drove past a corn field this morning on our way to school to celebrate with the kindergarteners at an ice cream social and I noticed the corn wasn't too high yet. No worries, I told myself. Mom always said, "Knee high by the fourth of July!" We had time, I thought. WAIT! Fourth of July?! That's NEXT WEEK! I'm soooo messed up! I kept thinking that once school was out I'd really get busy planting the rest of my vegetable garden. Bummer. I lost that opportunity! It's too late! I'm sooo confused here!
So, we have two more days of school and then summer is already half over in my mind already. For you see, next week is the Fourth of July. But around here, no one really cares because Tuesday is July 1 - Canada Day! How can we be celebrating this holiday so close to the end of school? I keep forgetting that this is OUR holiday here and I keep mentally shifting to the fact that Friday is the real holiday.
I'm sure one day I'll get used to this shifted school schedule, but for now I'm just confused and messed up. Oh yeah. Here's a good one for you: I rely so heavily on our calendar because of all the appointments, school dates, etc, that go on. So Monday, the boys were invited over for a play date at our friends' house. I went to check my calendar and all I had written on it was "Monday 4:00". Uhhhh...yeah. So what does that mean?! I have no idea! Why in the world would I write "Monday 4:00" on Monday?! I still don't know what that was for, so we went to the play date anyway. I wonder if my brain is just overloaded.
Happy Summer, everyone!
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5 comments:
I started to giggle about halfway through this post and by the end I was really laughing hard! I can only imagine having a school age child PLUS changing your routine after all these years. ICK.
Anyway, you'll adjust, in time... after many cups of tea and many chocolate cookies.
What exactly will you do on Canada Day?
Katie
You can take the girl out of the States, but you can't take the States out of the girl!!
I love the deep devotion you have to Wayne County! That would be hard to change to such a different schedule with everyone around you living like that. I'm sure Fred's quite used to it.
Just think what it would be like south of the equator, when even the seasons are mixed up...swim in an outdoor pool at Christmastime?? Watch the 4th of July fireworks at 5PM?? Frost on the ground on my birthday in June?? It happened to me.
I love Lindasue's comment.
How about a Wayne County girl trying to get used to sending her kids to a March to December school year? How about having your June birthday in WINTER, of all times of the year!! How about spending Christmas vacation at the beach in the next town over???
For 27 years I had to stop and think every time I thought about the date. Now back in Ohio, I have to re-program my mind again!!
A.Kath
Hey- You don't have to adjust-you just have to show up with your kids on time! If you can live with milk in a bag and Thanksgiving in October and the quiet but implied criticism of most US policies ( do they still refer to Americans as Yanks or is that just in Western Canada?)- then you can accustom yourself with weird school schedules and strange holidays. It's not just about Wayne Co.- it's about Monday 4:00!
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