Before jumping on the back-to-school bandwagon, take an end-of-summer mini-vacation.
It's that time of year: When you look at the calendar and realize you have a back-to-school night coming up, your child's dance teacher wants to know what fall class you want, and your beach towels are looking a little worn out.
School will be starting soon and if you're like me, you're starting to feel the panic that you didn't fit in everything you wanted to do this summer.
I'm going to try to sneak in two little trips before my kids' cross country and band activities kick in the week before the first day of school. One is a plane trip back home for a family reunion and another is a long car trip to visit friends. I'm hoping that the whirlwind of one last surge of vacation will help prepare me for what's to come: a calendar full of parent meetings, school projects, music lessons, sports schedules and all that autumn brings with it.
A last summer vacation gives us a chance to delve back into our summer skills, the biggest one being handling kids on a trip. Traveling with children can be fun and adventurous, but at the same time stressful and exhausting.
A late-July/early August vacation might not only give us a much needed last summer fling, but may also leave us looking forward to a more structured school year.
Bon voyage!
