It's Gonna Be May

Tomorrow is May! As parents of school-aged children know, May is the month of All the Things. But that's okay, because it means that the end of the school year is in sight - the kids have exactly 3 weeks and 1.5 days left! Without even looking at the calendar, I can tell that May and the end of the school year are on the horizon. Here is how: 

10. Everyone is Tired. So very tired. Partly this is because everyone in our house is at least low-level sick. But partly everyone is just plain exhausted, worn out, and ready for a break. 

9. I am thinking of expanding Lunchable Tuesday to Lunchable Tuesday/Thursday. Or really, why not just every day? I mean, we are in the home stretch. 

8. Bags of shredded cheese are sent as lunches. Okay, this event is from 2014, in the last week of school, when I realized about 30 seconds before Annika left for school I had neglected to pack her a lunch. Logically, I just threw random supplies from the pantry into her lunchbox, including a half-eaten bag of shredded cheese. 

7. My Planner Signing Skills are a New Low. Technically, this is because I have made planner-signing Daniel's responsibility instead of mine. But realistically, if Daniel weren't reminding me to sign it, this duty never would cross my mind. 

6. McAlister's for dinner is common. Or Panera. Although last night, we did nix McDonald's and had Health Food on a Plate for dinner instead, aka, tacos. 

5. Laundry? What's laundry? Will is the laundry-doer in our family, not by any explicit agreement, but because I am very lazy. Will is swamped with work right now with the end of our semester around the corner, and I have not stepped in to fill in the gaps because of said laziness. 

4. Reading Time is dying. We all love to read, but I cannot think of the last time we all sat around and read books during the evening. Partly this is because of a lack of time, but partly due to exhaustion. 

3. Library Book Notices are Flying. We are not great at keeping track of library books regularly, but there is something about the end of the school year that makes it even harder than normal to take the trip across town to return library books. 

2. Less and less is returned to school. Daniel has Lap-A-Thon this week, and it feels like an insurmountable task to return the packet to school. This also means I need to find the checkbook, which vaults it into Mission Impossible this time of the year. 

1. I am feeling bittersweet. I feel this way every year. As this school year comes to a close, this means only three more years until Annika begins college. Only one more year of any children in elementary school. Time is slipping like sand between my fingers faster than I can hold on. So even though I feel like I am crawling toward the finish line, letting more and more balls drop, I want to hold onto these moments as long as I can and revel in the memories of all that is magical. Because It's Gonna Be May only for a finite number of years.