School is out, summer will soon be upon us, and now is when the fun (?) really begins…
“A lot of parents pack up their troubles and send them off to summer camp.”
– Raymond Duncan
It’s an incredibly special time of year for kids and young adults. School is out, diplomas have been received, and the lull of the year known as ‘Summer Break’ is in full swing. Some will soon be headed off to college, while the youngsters will spend the next three months just relishing their freedom while they have the chance.
That typically means a lot of swimming, picnics, family trips, and steamy nights, hanging out, talking to your friends. Curfews are adjusted to be a little later, and the kids have more freedom as they grow and mature. And that’s okay. It’s like a rite of passage that we all go through. And along the way, we always have one or two magical summers that live in our hearts and minds forever. So for all of us, summer is truly a warm (no pun intended) and important time in a young person’s emotional development.
But for parents? Summer can be like one of those disaster movies, where the people see a giant tidal wave coming their way and just accept that there’s nothing they can do about it.
As adults, we now have to readjust our own lives. After months of the children being a non-entity in most of your actions from early morning to afternoon, suddenly, they are there all the time. And even worse? They always want stuff, even when you can’t afford it. And their abundance of free time now means that you will have virtually none until the Fall. So, ironically, you really can’t get much work done until after Labor Day.
Suddenly, trips to the pool or to summertime stayovers take up more of your schedule. While they sleep in, you rise early, hoping to get a jump on the day. You schedule your showers at 2 AM, and you find yourself hiding from having to brave another road trip.
Let’s face it: We all love our kids…
But man! It’s too hot out there to go somewhere every day, you know?
But, we relent. Because for some reason, we care about them and their adolescent wants and needs a little more this time of year. Of course, the climate won’t cooperate. Here in the Delta, known colloquially as THE SOIL, that usually means a hellish combination of heat and humidity.
Loading up your Jeep or minivan with kids’ carry-ons as salty sweat pours into your eyes is a feat by itself. But trying to breathe in weather that’s hotter and steamier than a gorilla’s armpit? Well… that’s more a matter of survival.
Upon the conclusion of said road trip, you find the usual evidence of bored Rugrats in the back: some soda spills, crumbs in the cracks of the cushions, and a sucker that someone thought could be stored in 100 degree heat. The stick and melted remnants will remain fixtures of your console for years. Upon trading in your vehicle, you will later find out that a 50-cent sucker actually dropped its value by $8000.
Despite the swamp-like environment and constant waiting behind the wheel, there’s something about Summer Break that we take solace in. Perhaps we use our own children’s experience to think back to this time of year in our own pasts: first kisses at the top of a Ferris Wheel, the smell of fresh air in May, or the sight of heat waves dancing off asphalt in August. And if you really think about it? This is a time when we can all share in that same steamy magic.
Or, maybe? We’re all just counting the dog days until school starts again.
Ryan K Boman is the Editor-in-Chief of The Du Quoin Torch, the President of Two Tomahawks Media, and a publisher for Sports Illustrated specializing in the NFL and Major League Baseball. He and his wife, Mickey, have made their home in Du Quoin since 2015.