Photo credit: © Ocusfocus/Dreamstime

I think it's safe to say that everyone, everywhere is so over the school routine and school in general this time of year. Parents, teachers and students alike.

The last several weeks of school are always the hardest. The weather invites us outside to play and makes us long for the freedom to play outside everyday and jump in the pool. Everyone is ready for freedom.

There are a lot of differences between how we go about the first day of school, and the weeks leading up to the last.

1. Enthusiasm

On the first day of school, we get up super early and pick out a nice outfit and happily take pictures of our kids with their new shoes and backpacks. We walk them into school and visit the classroom and enjoy the buzz about the first day. We walk out of the school and a small, quiet tear escapes our eye as we realize our babies are growing up and it's going so fast.

Towards the last day of school: We wave goodbye from the car in a rolling stop before speeding off to make the appointment we're probably already late for.

2. Wake up time

On the first day of school, we could hardly sleep the night before and we wake the kids up super early to give everyone plenty of time to get ready for the big sendoff.

Towards the last day of school: We push snooze later and later knowing that it means we will need to rush but we just don't have the will or the energy to get up and do it all over again.

3. Breakfast

On the first day of school, we do our best to make sure those little tummies are full with a nutritious, balanced breakfast. Full tummies mean better concentration and all want that, don't we?

Towards the last day of school: We send them out the door with a cinnamon bagel and a banana and hope for the best.

4. Clothes

On the first day of school, we take great care to make sure their outfit is coordinated and fit for first-day-of-school pictures. After all, a well-dressed child can be expected to feel better about themselves and perform better, right?

Towards the last day of school: We are pulling wrinkly t-shirts and athletic shorts out of the clothes basket in the laundry room and throwing them in the dryer on the permanent press cycle. We don't want to look like complete savages.

5. Hair

On the first day of school, ribbons, bows, and neatly combed hair still wet from our tender, loving care and close attention to their grooming.

Towards the last day of school: They walk in the doors with unkempt bed head because we were so pressed for time and so busy looking for shoes, we had to pick one or the other and the hair did not win.

6. Face

On the first day of school, we ensure wipes or a warm washcloth are nearby with a gentle soap for the cleaning of sweet little faces that we have gotten up early in plenty of time for appropriate grooming.

Towards the last day of school: In the car we notice that in the rush to get out the door we forgot to make sure they had clean faces, so we spit on our fingers and spot clean as needed.

7. The School Bus

On the first day of school, we wait for the school bus at the end of the drive in plenty of time to chat and spend quality time with our children and discuss world peace and the state of the union.

Towards the last day of school: We run with our barely-ready child down the drive in our t-shirt, shorts and socks in front of all of the cars driving by because we didn't have time to put our own shoes on.

8. Lunch

On the first day of school, only the best, nutritious, high-quality foods in perfectly arranged bento boxes will do for our precious snowflakes. And a sweet note inside for the icing on the gluten-free dairy-free cake.

Towards the last day of school: We either throw money onto their lunch account so they can eat at school, or pack an apple and the last half of a bag of potato chips into a lunch box as we frantically search for shoes before heading out the door.

9. Homework log

On the first day of school, they bring home a homework log for us to sign each week because parental involvement is key. We faithfully sit our kids down after school and make sure they are doing their math and reading and we write down the exact time spent on these life-giving tasks and neatly sign our names with the correct date.

Towards the last day of school: We are scrambling to give our kids credit towards any kind of time on the log. Does Minecraft count for Math? We read a few road signs when we went into town, that counts as reading right? Wait, there's a homework log?

10. School papers

On the first day of school, we are so proud of our children's accomplishments and the art that the kids have finally started coming up with on their own. We neatly display their papers every time they learn something new and give the appropriate praise.

Towards the last day of school: There are stacks of papers literally everywhere in the kitchen and we have guilt and can't throw anything away just yet because only monsters do that, so the pile over runs storage containers and morphs into a huge pile of papers in the laundry room.

11. After-School Routine

After the kids get home from school, we have nutritious, filling snacks ready for them and we sit down with them so they can relax after a long day. We carefully craft questions other than “How was school?” and we listen carefully making sure our little cherubs are happy and fulfilled.

Towards the last day of school: Their backpack stays on the floor exactly where it was thrown until the next morning, and we hand them a bag of chips so they can watch tv while you finish up what you're doing and then an hour later ask “How was school?”