Here 25 May is the last day. This week is field trips, next week is picnic, field and awards day. No school next Thursday, Friday get report cards and say bye to everyone early AM and go home! Grand son can't wait, I tell him before he know's it , it will be August and seventh grade. He just gives me daggers LOL.

Kenswood, isn't thay the truth, summer goes sooo fast. Before we know ot we'll be school shopping.

Eta. I'm starting shopping early. TJMaxx has tons of clothing on clearance sale. I can buy shorts to start the year out and tee shirts. They have a lot of Nike shirts for 3&4 dollars along with other name brands. These things I can guess at the sizes. Jeans I can't. And tons of bookbags under 10$. So what if they are last years. Lol

I'm happy. Incredibly happy. And incredibly sad. He graduates in 78 more hours and 16 minutes. Well, that's when the ceremony starts. He begins his paid summer internship in another 10 days after that. Welcome to adulting 101.

All that is it say, cherish 'em while they're young.

ETA: Ken, they graduate a week earlier than the rest of the kids, so it'll come sooner than you think (live where you do).

DGD's school doesn't let out until the second week of June. She'll be going into first grade next year. Time flies. I predict a busy, fun summer with DD and the grands this year.

My kids are grown, but DD is a teacher who is so excited for the end of the year. She is teaching 2nd grade, but her real love is middle school. That was the only opening at the school in Croatia, and she really wanted to move to Croatia so she took it. She plans to do one more year there, and then come back to the States. I cannot wait for that!!

sleeperblues Yes, I know the teachers are happier than the kids that school is over. My DD teaches science and health at the county prison. It is a lot safer than majority of the other schools she has taught at. A guard is outside of the class room door at all times and she also has a panic button. It is a privilege for the kids to be in the class room. They want to be there instead of the cell. They screw up and they are out of class. All she has to do is say the word and they are gone. Plus she doesn't have to put up with "not my child" or "my child is special" parents. And some of the stories she tells is quite entertaining.

Interesting, functionthenlook! Sounds like a great program. I'm glad it's available. Prison should focus on rehabilitation, but sadly that's not usually the case. Kudus to your DD!

They have to provide education to the minors. It probably will not help them much though. All of the minors in the county prison are in there for murder. All the other minors with lesser offenses are in a different facility that only are for minors.

June 1st is the last day here. Im not particularly looking forward to it. It means i'll be doing a lot of chauffeuring of the grand kids. I liked when they were little and they didn't all have to be in different places at the same time.

It has been many years that I had to think about this. But I do remember on the last day, I had "bringing in the dumpster". We threw away all the old school work and notebooks. Then we did a deep cleaning of their rooms.

It is funny how I still think of September as the beginning of the year.

I used to dread the end of the school year. I don't have kids, but when we lived in a neighborhood there were approximately 5 billion small, rotten, latchkey kids that would be out in the neighborhood ALL night, and they liked to torment our dogs through the fence. Now that I live out in the sticks, it doesn't matter either way,except traffic going to town is lessened a little in the early morning and mid afternoon.

I always have hated summer though. Too hot to have fun.

Although retired, I am still subbing and yesterday was my last day subbing. Graduation was Monday nite, and the rest get out Friday May 18. Went to graduation as I had the seniors in class as freshmen, and they asked me to come. SO fun and sad to see them go. But as soon as they graduate, they can request me on facebook, cause I like to keep track of them., military service, babies, jobs, colleges, etc.

Bittersweet for us. My oldest is graduating next week. It's been a weird year. We were ten days into the school year when Harvey hit. That changed a lot of things and even made some things better. It's been a good year with more to come. My oldest really excelled this year. We're preparing for college. My middle child is ho hum about school, but went ahead and took summer classes anyway so he can take more electives during the regular year. My youngest is excited because she will now be a high school student and has the next four years planned out. Lots of change happening for us.

june 22nd is our last day... had several snow days to make up. the last 3 of those days are "early dismissal" and a total waste of time. i am soooooo ready for the time off, even if it's on unemployment.

Thanks everyone for chiming in.

I went to my kiddos band concert...it was wonderful. Tim told me he had a surprise for me and boy did he. The fourth grade played a song called Thunder. Tim did a solo on the baritone...just the ending of the song. Cant believe he kept this a secret for so long. I really can't believe he's as good as he is to be able to play this song after only one year of lessons and doesn't want to do it next year. How can someone do such an amazing job when they have no interest. LOL. My pride runneth over. Haha

Functionthenlook, back in the 80's my husband taught auto mechanics at a big prison here. He taught there for three years than lost the bid . I can't say I wasn't happy.

Moonie they sure do grow up fast. Chip has joined up for little league for the summer and Tims going to be busy playing basketball. He dreams of being another Michael Jordan. If he keeps growing he's sure to be a sought after player. Still in 4'th grade and 4 inches shy of being 6 foot. Yes he's the tallest boy in school. I may need to cut hI'm off at the knees in order to find pants to fit him. Lol Anyway what I planned to say was my kids will need a chauffeur this year also.

Thanks everyone.

My younger daughter finished her junior year in College two weeks ago and left last Sunday to spend 3 month in the rainforest (Peru) again. Still have a bunch of college laundry to finish up. I don’t really remember being happy school is out. Took a lot of planning and driving around to keep both of my girls busy. With the interesting day camps at the science center you had to sign up by February. And at the sign up day there were dozens of parents sitting there biting their nails if there would be a spot left. Not too much to do around my area.....

Not much around here for kids to do either Iris. I was remembering when I was a kid how the local playground had a male and female person from morning till maybe around 3 pm to help out organizing baseball games and jacks at the picnic table. They could earn some money if a parent wanted their child watched. I spend a lot of time at the picnic table playing Jacks. Mom dropped me off around 9 in the morning with my lunch and drinks and that's where I stayed until afternoon most days. I really enjoyed it. Nothing like that in today's world at least around here.

DD is finishing up elementary school in 3 weeks or so, and a little anxious about changing over to the middle school next year- a lot of her friends won't be there, as their parents have chosen to send them to other schools in the area. Her teacher this year was awesome, so I'm worried that leaving her and the school at the same time is going to be a little traumatic :^( We'll see how it goes.

They are finishing their standardized testing, and then activities at school will be slowing down and becoming less academic.

I love having her here in the summer. She is easy going and doesn't get bored too easily. I let the house go and spend as much time with her as possible- her childhood has an expiration date that is fast approaching, so I'll try to grab every moment I can even if it's exhausting sometimes.

Schools don't close for summer in this area till about the third week in June ... and sometimes there are then some snow days to make up.

ole joyful ... mine being in their 50s, no grandkids - a long way removed from experiencing kids in school

Sometimes you just have to make your own fun.

If there isn't much else to do, I'd get on the internet and look up some science projects to do at home. Those are a lot of fun.

Depends on the neighborhood, the kids could camp outside and cookout or over a campfire with your supervision or at least make s'mores. There are some places on the internet that will help you figure out the stars, planets, etc. Dh and I went walking last night right after dark. There was the moon and a planet on the western horizon and another plant on the eastern horizon.

There are a lot of budding chefs out there. There is another thread for ideas. My dd has always liked to experiment with desserts.

Depending on the kids, there are fun art projects, fishing, reading, and 'world records' to set. One of my kids got into growing carnivorous plants for a while.

When my own kids were young they enjoyed signing up for activities at the Y and through the Parks and Recreation. DS loved going away to boy scout camp as soon as he was old enough when he was in cub scouts. DD was competitively roller skating so a lot of time was spent at the roller rink. Then the annual pilgrimage to regionals during the hottest month of summer. Our neighborhood had lots of kids and they were the last group that played outdoors and roamed the neighborhood.. By the time DS was 10 he discovered the bus could take him anywhere. Today I wouldn't want him on our buses at all at any age. Different times.

During the years I worked as a school secretary, nobody looked forward to summer break more than I did. I had to work for three weeks after school let out and it was the most peaceful, quiet time of the year for me. I got more work done in those three weeks than I did during the entire school year. Once I was done, I had four weeks off (bliss!) before going back two weeks before school started to get ready for the new school year.

Now that I'm retired, the school schedules are no longer on my radar, but if nothing has changed, school will break the first week of June.

This post brings back memories for me. When I went to grade school, the school year was only 8 months long. We began near Sept. 1 and ended April 30. There were no support staff. The teacher did all secretarial work and that was kept to a minimum. The main activity was filling out students report cards and making a report to the County Superintendent of Schools at the end of the school year. The teacher also kept the attendance record.

And back then, the teacher did not get paid what he/she was worth and there was no retirement fund. At present, that part has not changed much. At my hometown, the high school has a retirement fund, but it is underfunded.

My husband's grandmother was a teacher, starting in the 1930's. I don't know how long their school year was, but she celebrated the end of one year by dancing on top of her desk! The students were gone, but her principal happened by and caught her! Disgraced, she was sent to an even more remote school for the next year.

So, celebrate wisely, all y'all ;-)

Nickel--how terrible your dh's grandma was punished for doing a Happy Dance on her desk, in private! I can totally understand her joy at that moment, as can all teachers.

Tomorrow its finially here. Last day of school. They only go for two hours. I love when the boys are home for the summer. Next school year will be Tims last year in elementary. Think I mentioned above that Tim decided not to go back into band next year, well he must have been thinking about it because he came to me and told me he's changed his mind and will continue in band continuing with the baritone. The school loaned Tim a baritone this year to keep at home and another at school to play eliminating the need to carry this heavy instrument and case back and forth. The band teacher ask if I would allow Tim to keep this baritone at home for the summer so he can practice...guess the neighbors won't get off the hook listening to this thru the summer. Lol.

Tim won the Academic achievement award this year...WoooHooo! Very proud. Chip won the award for rsising his hand to answer every question the teacher ask the entire year..That's my boy. LOL.

I'm very proud of these boys. They worked hard and earned their great grades.

2018/19 school year will be here in the blink of an eye. I better not blink.

Grandsons' school in Texas let out June 1st, and I am happy because they are flying here with their mother that week to visit here.

Bus will depart school at 11 so they will get home about 30 minutes later. They get dropped off at the start of the long private drive. I guess its about a football field from my front door. I walk half way to meet them but being able to see them the entire time. Today I'll walk the whole way as we have our songs to sing...No more pencils no more books...and Schools out for summer...lol at the top of our lungs. its very overcast so I'll have umbrellas. The next week will be all fun and games for the boys than 30 minutes a day every day to brush up on things they have learned this year. The school sends home *summer work* things they will be doing next year. Its really great how they send enough, a page of math and a page of vocabulary words, one for each day of the summer. So 30 minutes a day goes a long way. I never have had any flack from the boys over doing this and hope I don't this year. There's no strict time for them to do this..they can pick their own time. I only ask it be done and given to me by 8 pm.

Bed time will of course be extended...LOL but us ually after a long day of play and a evening shower you can see while sitting out on the back patio them wanting to drop off around 9'ish.

Can you tell I'm happy that

Schools Out For Summer!

We sang at the top of our lungs "Schools out FOREVER!" the other day after his last exam :)

Rob, congratulations to your son and you. Job well done!

It sounds like your summers are really nice, Mama. I remember feeling rather bittersweet about the last day of school. As exciting as it was not to have to get everyone up and at 'em early, I rather missed the structure of school and having time to myself at home. My girls were readers and it was hard to convince them to put their books down when there was nothing pressing to do. We had our fair share of whining in our house, as well. :)

Rob, I worry about you unless your son is commuting from home! You two are very close and I think you will feel his absence keenly. I hope you have plenty to keep you busy, but I think you won't have any problem in that area as you sound like a busy lady.