May 28, 2001
DOWN HOME: 'Endless' summer
really won't last all that long
___That breeze you felt last week had nothing to do with the jet stream, low-pressure centers, dry-lines or any other meteorological mumbo-jumbo.
___Nosirree. It blew out of Texas school houses, where doors flung open, children sprang running and screaming, and teachers heaved a collective sigh of relief.
MARV KNOX
Editor
___School's out for the summer.
___On behalf of families everywhere, let me be the first to say, "Yippee."
___Lindsay and Molly probably wonder if I'm really glad school's out. During dinnertime discussions, I often speak favorably of the Japanese children, who attend school year 'round.
___When the girls gripe about homework or the length of the school year, I'll say something like: "Well, you should be glad we didn't become missionaries to Japan. Those Japanese children go to school six days a week, all through the year. I bet they're smart as whips."
___Our girls may not go to school 300 days a year, but they've learned to counter my rhetoric.
___"Did you know Japan has the highest teen-suicide rate in the world?" one of them will ask. "Have you looked at the Japanese stock market lately?" another will query.
___"Maybe there's such a thing as too much school," they'll chime together. "Besides, we're not Japanese children."
___So much for my theory of perpetual school. And to tell you the truth, I'm happy for the summer break.
___For one thing, they need it. I remember when I started my junior year in high school. Mrs. Knighton, my English teacher and the junior class sponsor, told us: "This will be your toughest year. Juniors are the workhorses of high school."
___Boy, can I believe it. This past junior year has been Lindsay's toughest yet. The academic preparation for college is mounting, and many was the night when she went to bed long after her mama and I turned out our lights.
___Molly's been ready for eighth grade to be over for a long time, because she's anticipating high school.
___Which reminds me why I didn't want this school year to be over, or at least for the next one to start. Joanna and I will have two kids in high school, one of them a senior, when school bells toll again. I can't be that old, can I?
___In the meantime, we'll enjoy summer like God intended it: Grilling burgers, freezing ice cream, lollygagging in the back yard, spending a week at the beach. Hanging out together, at least as much as the girls' schedules and social calendars allow.
___Parents and grandparents, remember: God only gives you so many summers with your kids. Enjoy your young 'uns. Take time for them. After all, back-to-school is only 10 weeks away.
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