It means a hour long breakfast coffee with my computer on my lap looking at home decorating sights!

But yes, as much as I love summer, getting back to a routine is good. For me: House is cleaner, meals are more regular, everything gets back to having a place and a time.

"...And the winter is coming on fast, ready to kill
One day nearer to dying!"

Ahh aprilneverends, at first I thought you were depressed and then I thought you watched Game of Thrones and then I remembered Les Miserables!

It seems to still mean the beginning of the year for me. Both DD's are finished with college and out on their own, yet September still feels like a fresh start.

Back to school to me means that I have to watch what time I go to the closest shopping area. The senior/jr high lets out a 2:30 and between the buses and all the mamby pamby mothers in their cars who's children are sooooo special that it is beneath them to ride a bus, they clogs up the intersection like crazy. Also there is a child obesity problem in the US, why does the school bus have to stop at EVERY single street.

It means I start tutoring and this weekend is particularly bad. First drafts of compositions and first big test seem to land in the middle of September.

For me it was always a bummer. I loved having more free time with my son - no homework, no worries about bedtime or dragging him out of bed so early for the bus. I loved the start of summer, and hated to see it end.

Being empty nesters for a while again, youngest daughter just left for last year of college, but she'll be back, LOL!

I'm not an educator, but I work in academia. It means a lot more traffic on campus, and me being thankful for the very pricy reserved parking I purchased back in August, when it seemed like it might have been a waste of money.

it also means SEC football on TV on Saturdays. Roll Tide!

@functionthenlook

As for some of us "mamby pamby mothers in their cars who's children are sooooo special that it is beneath them to ride a bus" I have three not-obese-teens, it is a 40 min walk each way and three bus passes would cost me over $200.00 a month, my car is simply cheaper and perhaps you should leave your judgments at home.

As for September, it is a relief to be back on track, on a schedule etc and I too get the house to myself on occasion.

I was not talking about public transportation. I was talking about regular old yellow school buses. Our school buses are payed for with tax money. Our children don't use public transportation. There is none. In the inner city some kids use public transport, but it is still payed for with tax money. Three buses plus $200, yea I would drive my kids too.

As another "manby panby mother" I realize that I am blessed to have the option to drive or send my kids on the bus. In our case, the bus picks up at 7:15 am. School starts at 8:50. That is a ridiculous length of time on a bus for elementary kids IMO.

Back to school means schedules.... which I love!

School was pretty much year round. Homeschooled our two. No respite. One has graduated college and the other is on the verge. Empty nesters now. Redoing all our lathe and plaster walls a room at a time. Sort of marking the transition.

It's early in the morning, so I will raise my coffee cup in a toast to all the namby-pamby mothers who look after their children! Children who are well cared for turn into adults capable of caring for others.

Oh and as for the question at hand- while I love all the extra time with my boys in the summer- there is something magical about this time of year- the September fresh start- as Eld put it- is invigorating.

Since there is a school 3 blocks from my house, I have to start/end my shopping errands to avoid the cluster-muck of traffic with kids walking to/from school, and parents dropping off/picking up their children. Children horsing around on a sidewalk with one inevitably stepping off into the street. Parents not realizing other vehicles actually drive on the road, doing their spontaneous U-turns in front of you. Kids running across the middle of the street, causing a driver to slam on their brakes - even at 25mph. The joy of picking up the candy wrappers, soda cans, food wrappers, et al strewn along the neighborhood. Oh, and lest we forget the "strollers", who are so eco-friendly, they leave you burning gas as they meander slower than any 95 year old on crutches. Ah...back to school...

Just for the record, not all school buses are paid for by taxes. In our town, if you want your kids to take the regular ol' yellow school bus, you have to pay. And kids in urban areas often have to pay for public transportation. Just sayin'. Doesn't apply to me because we live within easy walking distance to all the schools my kids have attended. But I know parents have lots of reasons to drive their kids to school, and not all of them are lame.

Sept. for me means missing my DS who is back at college 5+ hours from home; watching my youngest embark on a challenging junior year of HS and trying to find time to start looking at colleges; accumulating MORE clutter as schoolbooks, paper, laptop, etc. take up residence on the kitchen table; enjoying cooler weather; and facing my upcoming birthday!

Between birthdays and school, Sept. has always represented transition to me. I'm inspired to do fall cleaning and organizing, maybe a couple small decorating projects, exercising more, cooking more... and hoping we have at least another month of screen-porch time before we have to put in the storm windows.

Need for more space, quick!!!!!

I'm a teacher, so anything that didn't get done before school starts won't get done until Christmas break if lucky or next May.

I live near a university with a popular football team, so I have to be careful when I leave my house on home game Saturdays or I get stuck in traffic. I prefer the lazy days of summer.

It means vacation destinations are less crowded. And that the weather is generally better. I'm not into hot and humid.

Ahh. Back to school. With only one of four left in HS, Back-to-School is dwindling. It is so much simpler now. There is only one child in one sport. And only one to track along on their school work. We will have time to deal with our overdue HOUZZ projects now that summer R&R is over.

So let me weigh in on the controversial mamby-pamby comment. Hate to see name calling. It's negative and unnecessary. As for patience with the new traffic patterns, this is to the parents who take their children to their bus stops and feel compelled to chat with the bus driver. Please DON'T. It is really inconsiderate. The bus drivers are at work. They don't have time for social hour. It may brighten your day to "brighten their day" but it is not the time nor the place to "make a difference in the bus drivers' lives". I have been part of huge lines where the same parents do it daily. All the cars that are stuck behind the bus (and lawfully NOT passing the school bus) actually have somewhere to go. They sure do. Maybe it is an appointment. Or maybe, just maybe, they are trying to get to their job. Keep that in mind. Fortunately it is a small number of parents who want to chat it up. Unfortunately it has a big impact.

Homework. Hours of homework...

It means it's darn hard to get in 9 holes after supper. Sunsets are coming too soon!

I home school so it means that our space is messier and that I have to find places for books and papers and projects so that they can be neatly packed away when not in use. I have all sorts of decorative boxes filled with pencils and rulers, etc. Since school is usually at my kitchen table, a few kitchen cabinets always become bookcases. My space becomes a master of disguise.