FUN IN THE SUN

Sadly, sweet summertime is coming to a close. Some children already went back to school and soon summer 2018 will be a distant memory.

My 10-year-old daughter got a list of “summer projects” she needs to complete before she begins year 6 — and I am not happy about it. I guess that’s why we still haven’t started yet. These days, it seems like it’s no longer enough to have children spending hours doing their homework or making projects during the school year. Now it seeps into summer vacation too, making our time “off” almost as stressful as the school year.

To be clear, it’s not the reading lists I take issue with. It’s great to have children pick a few books to read over their summer vacation, and even to read them together as a family. It’s the thought of having to do not one, not two, but THREE more school projects that pushed me over the edge recently.

First of all, young children tend to need help making their school projects. Or at the very least, help buying the supplies. Guess who will have to be funding that venture? Yep; the parents who couldn’t wait for school to be over, so they could enjoy a few days without school obligations.

Now our precious summer, the time when we would normally recover and relax from the never-ending go-go-go of the school year, has been taken hostage. Well the last couple of weeks!

I appreciate the school’s concern about so-called “brain drain” when school is out, but I would rather find other ways to keep my children learning. When summertime comes, the last thing I want for my little ones is to continue feeling constrained by endless lists of things they need to do for school.

I want them to enjoy a true vacation, and that means allowing them to simply be children, to have fun in the sun, with no serious obligations. I want them to play, not to worry. They grow up so fast that I just want them to be able to enjoy their childhoods while they’re still happening.

I mean, when was it decided that a summer vacation requires school assignments at all, anyway? When did it become a requirement to always be doing something productive with your time? What happened to just having a fun summer and writing an essay about it once you go back to school?

And here’s the most annoying part: I can’t even complain at this point to my daughter’s school, because guess what? EVERYBODY’S ON VACATION. So lets have fun in the sun! A new editorial by Annarella Curaso.

Gympiece by Popupshop available at Orange Mayonnaise.

Gympiece by Popupshop available at Orange Mayonnaise. Hoodie and shorts by Yporque available at Orange Mayonnaise.

Gympiece by Popupshop available at Orange Mayonnaise. Shoes by Adidas.

Shirt by Motoreta.

Blue Rainbow top by Yporque, jeans by Zara and shoes by Nike. Toekan T-shirt by Popupshop, shorts by Manuela Kids Design. Jeans gilet by Levi’s, T-shirt by Popupshop and leggings by Manuela Kids Design.