Front Porch: September shift sparks array of reactions

Change is in the air. The scent of sunscreen, bug repellent and backyard burgers is waning, making way for the fragrance of freshly sharpened pencils, peanut butter sandwiches and hair gel. The aroma of back-to-school wafts in.

For my family, this inevitable September shift sparks an array of reactions. I didn’t ask them for input, so this is my biased observation of their behavior.

Curtis is a teacher, so September is a two-sided coin. On one side he has an air of settled gladness to return to his students with a staff that has become like family. As an extroverted people person, he loves his job and the intrinsic reward of helping his students grow and achieve their goals.

On the flip side, he sometimes seems wistful for the extra time summer break gives him with his own kids. Though Curtis also works in the summer, the slower pace and reduced hours offer more opportunities to play, to talk and to enjoy our fast-growing children. It’s time he doesn’t take for granted.

Emily, our eldest, has embraced the opportunity for an education since she was 4. Returning to school has always been a happy event that made her sleepless with optimistic anticipation. Each fall when I dropped her at the classroom door, arms laden with supplies, she didn’t cling or cry. She bounded forward, barely pausing to say “goodbye.”

In fact, to my amazement, Emily refused every time I offered an annual skip day to do something fun. She’d rather be in school learning, connecting with friends and staving off the boredom that often accompanied an uncluttered calendar.

Last week, when Emily moved out to start her freshman year of college, her excitement was as palpable as her first day of kindergarten. She wasn’t just going back to school. She was starting a new adventure.

Later this month Isaac will also start college classes, but as a Running Start student. Though he’s looking forward to the change and the challenge, he’s also spent the week gloating that he gets a longer summer, his favorite season.

For Isaac, school is more of an obligatory stepping stone to the future he envisions. While he enjoys some specific classes, he’d much rather be sleeping in, running, hanging out with friends or writing music. As a result, he’s my most efficient child, hitting the homework hard and fast so he can move on to things he enjoys more.

Ian, our youngest, approaches school with a mixture of exaggerated gloom and cheerful acceptance. Outside of school he doesn’t sit still. Ever. He runs and plays soccer and bounces the ball in the living room while watching television. He was made to move and school mostly keeps kids confined – to their desks, their classrooms and their cafeterias. It’s like a sneak peak at the cubicle life many of them will eventually lead.

Though Ian dreads so many hours of sitting, he’s also inquisitive and extroverted. Some of the academics feed his mind while the social interactions feed his spirit. Last week, on the first day of school he pretended to cry. Then he laughed with a shrug and left the house early. He had people to meet.

That’s why our dog Tippy hates this time of year. In September we have to retrain him because he tries to herd the kids back in the house and barks at the door as it closes behind them. After a summer of having the whole family underfoot, scratching his ears, throwing the ball, teaching him tricks and feeding him treats, he’s suddenly stuck with only me. And I’m hunched over the computer in the home office with mixed feelings.

Like Tippy and Curtis, I miss the kids when they go back to school. The annual “first day” pictures remind me how much they’ve grown and how quickly their childhoods pass. This year, I especially miss getting to see Emily every day.

But back-to-school can bring new beginnings for everyone. And in a house with only my dog, I suddenly have more than a moment of silence in which to hear myself think. I sigh and smell the freshly sharpened pencils. I eye the blank paper, waiting for words.

To be perfectly honest, back-to-school may be my favorite season.