May is the new December

A friend of mine declared recently that "May is the new December."

Boy, she is NOT kidding.  If you are at all involved in your children's life, and if they are at all involved with any activities beyond eating, drinking, bathing, sleeping, going to school and coming home, then your weeks leading up to the close of the school year are just as busy as those leading up to the holidays.

Recitals and performances, tournaments, bees, competitions, concerts, and countless other exhibitions of the talents that your children have been honing throughout the fleeting school year, must be attended.

Loose ends must be tied up.  Missing books must be found and returned.  Gifts must be purchased or made for teachers in appreciation for their efforts to help shape our "young breed."

This is the time that the weekends become crowded with First Communion and prom and graduation celebrations.  You know they are coming. You just don't often know when or how many until you've already got multiple balls in the air and you've abandoned the ink pen on your calendar and resorted to pencil instead.

In the midst of all this, winter clothes must be purged and replaced with summer wardrobes. 

Those of us who wear all the hats of running a small business or work away from the home must still find time to keep those initiatives moving forward.  The good news is, I decide when and where and who I work with on most days.  But what I want to get done and what is humanly possible are two different things in May. 

And just like the Winter holiday season, those who enjoy it most are the ones who simplify and prioritize.  The ones who trade in at least some of the "nice-to-haves-but-not-necessary-for-happiness" in exchange for "this-must-be-done-to-preserve-sanity" tasks wind up getting to June with a sense of sentimental accomplishment, traditions and memories that their children will cherish.

I'm working on that.  But it's a feeble attempt at best.  What do you think?  Is May the new December at your house?


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