pretty soon there will no longer be any summer vacation left for kids. Can you remember when you started back to school in your elementary years? At what date are kids in your area starting back to school now?

-- Anonymous, August 14, 2001

Answers

I seem to remeber September 5th as the day of terror and dread. That was probably just one year outta my elementary life that particularly scarred me, but it seems school always started the first week of September right after Labor Day.

Now days, kids in our area start back the first, second week of August...Sucky!

Remember your fist day of school? My mom walked me to my kindergarten class to introduce me to my teacher...then she LEFT me there! With strangers! My eyes were downcast the entire day as I trembled with shyness. I wore a blue crochet dress and white patent leather shoes.

-- Anonymous, August 14, 2001

Hey, that outfit sounds bitchin'.

My kids go back August 20 and the oldest is looking forward to it. The middle son has been saying that he would prefer to play Playstation all day instead of going to school or getting a job.

For the longest time, I was compelled to buy new clothes and school supplies at the end of each August, even years after I stopped going to school. I remember that in my teen years, I always looked forward to the start of the school year, thinking that there was bound to be exciting romance in my future. That makes me laugh now.

-- Anonymous, August 14, 2001

I don't have kids, but I remember when I was a kid I always looked forward to going back to school. Seeing my friends again and swapping stories about stuff we did over the summer. I liked it. :-)

-- Anonymous, August 14, 2001

My daughter starts school Aug. 27th. She had a few weeks off in June, then she went to summer school half days for four weeks. I wasn't being mean. She is having a little trouble with some things. She is finishing up a 10 day trip to Missouri to see relatives and she is having a good time. Some schools in the San Diego School District go year round with just a couple of weeks off here and there.

My family use to take vacations around the U.S. in the summer. Honestly, I don't have super pleasant memories of the trips. Moderately bad things happened a lot, food poisoning, altitude sickness in Colorado, etc. I guess my favorite trip was out East. I remember driving through the narrow streets of New York and not being able to see the sky because of the tall buildings. And here we were, these hicks from Missouri, pulling a pop-up camper. I also remember a lot of summer band camps and summer bible school, which I despised. I didn't fair much better at Camp Fire Girls camp. I think I liked school better.

But, last summer, my summer attitude changed because my daughter and I got to take a trip to England. Love that place.

-- Anonymous, August 15, 2001

I don't want to talk about it. My daughter started Kindergarten Monday, August 13th. It was very traumatic. Well for me anyway. She loved it.

-- Anonymous, August 15, 2001

There is a law in our state that school year can't start until after Labor Day. Our kids get out in mid-June. Lots of kids go to summer school. I used to send mine, but not this year. My oldest son (11) begged me to homeschool him. He even wrote up a homeschool proposal with his own educational plan and everything. I finally agreed when he tested with a 12th grade reading level, but his teacher gave him an "F" in reading because he didn't fill out those Pizza Hut reading logs My youngest son (8) still really likes school, so he's going back on September 4. Both kids like to get new back to school stuff (but now as a home educator I get the teacher discounts), but only my youngest is getting a new first day of school outfit. My older son doesn't care about clothes right now, just as long as it's camouflage or all black. He's not goth, he just likes black clothes becasue he says it doesn't show the dirt as much!

-- Anonymous, August 15, 2001

It's a bumper year for school here. School doesn't start until after labour day and really the first day isn't until the tenth of September this year (my son has graduated entry). He's only in half days, but then, so am I.

So come Monday the tenth of September, we're all heading out the door for an afternoon of education. Joe to elementary, me to university, and tiny Bea to the university daycare.

I took Joe back to school shopping yesterday. We didn't really do it last year, but this year he needed a whole list of things including two pairs of running shoes (one to leave at the school for indoor use). So I dragged him around the mall. But it was actually rather fun. I used it as an excuse to buy a whole heck of a lot of stuff that he maybe didn't *need*. Like underoos! Batman and Spiderman!

-- Anonymous, August 16, 2001

Alicia - we're home educators too. My oldest wants to go to school but he's only 6, and the two school options here aren't acceptable. I feel guilty, but I know he'll be able to go in the future. He's meeting other non-school kids and seems happier each day with the arrangement Amy

-- Anonymous, August 16, 2001

I am totally enjoying my kids being in school all day. It does go by quickly, though. And I just love it that Texas has all day kindergarten.

-- Anonymous, October 25, 2001