I posted this blog this time last year and many parents told me they felt the same way I did. I’ve made a dew updates, but here you go. Slacker parents unite! 

Dear future teacher of my oldest son,

I want to apologize in advance for the chaos that will invade your second grade classroom a week from Monday. I was quite the slacker this summer. So when my kid walks into your class one waffle fry short of a Chik Fil A kid’s meal, you can blame his behavior on me.

We are out of our school-year routine.

These last three months, our meals have consisted of dinosaur chicken nuggets, pizza, and Happy Meals. Last year, I appreciated the school’s month long Healthy Eating for Life program complete with wonderful incentives. Are you offering this again?

Following the school’s advice to keep gaming to thirty minutes a day, during the school year I enforced strict rules about Playstation Privileges. Those rules have gone by the wayside. He may have played all day for most of the summer. On a positive front, his hand eye-coordination has improved.

Bedtime during the school year comes at 6:30pm. But late night plans and my—It’s  summer. Let the kid stay up a little later attitude kept him from needed rest. While I’ll do my best to get back into bedtime mode come fall, it may take a few weeks to get him into an earlier routine. But for now, he’s exhausted by 1 pm and goes stir-crazy. This may prove difficult for you during independent reading time.

I should’ve insisted he read books all summer. And the activity packet the first grade teachers sent home in May? Still in the backpack. He may need to take a trip back to first grade after you assess him. But I don’t think they’ll take him.

One more thing. During the month of July, we vacationed in the mountains. Unfortunately, the lack of oxygen at such a high altitude messed with his brain. Most days, he acts insane, chasing his brother around the house and pounding him on the head. Repeatedly. I apologize if he does the same to his classmates.

Wow, I feel much better. There’s something cathartic about getting the bad-parent guilt off my chest. And as a thoughtful, communicative person, I just wanted you to know. Again, I apologize that the consequences of my bad choices will be your problem in a few short days. I’ll try to be a better parent this fall, but the end of April may arrive before he recovers from his somewhat supervised summer.

Yours Truly,

Slacker Parent of the Summer (aka: Lisa Lloyd)

P.S.—We return to the mountains this week and come home two days before school begins. During the trip, the little oxygen he has left in his brain may deplete to zero. If you see him talking to an imaginary Skylanders character, you’ll know why.

 

We’ve all done it. Slacker parents unite! I wish I was like so many other parents who have intense summer education disciplines. Oh well. But even if my kids didn’t go up a reading level or get 12 nightly hours of sleep this summer, I think they loved that we simply spent time together. And I know they loved the loose rules!

Have you felt like a slacker parent this summer? Since we’re all in this tough-parenting-thing together, leave a comment below and tell me more!