Togetherness

We're now coming up on that most horrifying time of year: the Months with Many Days Off from School. Today my kids were off for a teacher's in-service day. Next week, they're off on Tuesday for Election Day and Thursday and Friday for the state teachers' conference. From there it's only a few short weeks until Thanksgiving's four-day weekend, and a few weeks after that until Christmas week off. It's a difficult little period, with maximum juggling of jobs and schedules. You'd think they could spread things out a bit, and not, say, schedule a conference for the same week as Election Day or the same month as a national holiday, but I guess they figure that nothing makes you appreciate teachers like having your kids home a few school days in a row.