The End Of Summer or Time To Give My Child Back To School

This time of year is always difficult for me. Why? Because I like my child. I enjoy having her around the house all summer. There is no rushing or insanity, we just get to hang together. And now I have to give her back to school in a little over a week. I start to get weepy when I think about giving her back, which is goofy because my daughter goes to the best school on the planet. They nurture her and love her for the caustic witted, tutu wearing, unconformist that she is. She's funny, she's creative, she's smart, she's interesting and she's relaxing to be around. (Of course there is cranky, snotty and stubborn too, but I honestly don't see those very often.) These amazing qualities continue to grow as she does. At 12 years I'm beginning to get glimpses of who she is growing into. It's exciting and wonderful, but at the same time my baby is quickly disappearing into a memory. Each summer it becomes more obvious that college is around the corner and each summer becomes more precious and harder to give up.

Our end of summer ritual, since my princess was 4 months old, is to spend a day together at the Minnesota State Fair. We never fail to start the day with crepes for breakfast and end the day with a bag of caramel corn in the Coliseum watching the horses.