Endless Summer: The Last Hurrahs

Do you lay out crisp new shorts and pristine sneakers the night before? Perhaps you prepare their favorite breakfast to entice them out of a comfy bed. Do you plan one last hurrah before they have to hit the showers, or go quietly into that good night?

Patch recently asked a sampling of Monmouth County parents what they do -- if anything! -- to get their kids physically and mentally prepared for the first day of That-Which-Cannot-Be-Named during summertime. 

But the party's not quite over yet.  As my son the optimist keeps calculating, "there's still 1,209,600 seconds of summer vacation left!"

So plunge in and make every second count.

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"We always visit the school a few days before. I usually have the boys invite a group of friends over who they have not seen all summer. It reminds them of all the people they will see again. Not to mention fresh baked chocolate chip cookies in their lunch the first week. The truth is, I am always sad to see them go. I love summer,our adventures and the time with them as a family." Dina Prisco

 "I always asked my girls to gradually start going to sleep and waking up early the week before school so that by the first day of school they would be used to it." Regina Criscione

 "Invite all the neighborhood kids (and parents) over for dead casual ice cream sundae social two nights before school starts!!!  Pretend it is still summer until the bitter end!" Amy Stark

 "We also pick out  clothes the night before, pack the backpack and pick out what will be for lunch the next day.  Aside from that it’s trying to calm the night-before jitters and excitement so that we can get a good night’s sleep. For the past several years it’s been to remind him that his buddy will be in his class, so he won’t be “all by himself” (that seems to be his biggest fear, that he won’t know anyone). Hoping they are together again." Diane Cierny

 "As soon as the teacher assignment letters arrive in our mailbox and the flurry of emails, texts and phone calls begin, I start a spreadsheet for each of my children, recording friends' names along with their teacher assignments.  By the time the school year starts, we have a good idea of where our friends are.  Knowing which familiar faces they will see on the first day puts the kids at ease.     Before Labor Day, we go to visit our school and new classroom.  Many times we have gotten lucky and have had the chance to meet our new teacher too. We also take note of the student names on the desks and/or decorations on the door, to continue updating our class spreadsheet.

For the first breakfast back to school, I serve pork roll, egg and cheese sandwiches...because nothing says "back to school" like salty meat."  Chris Hary