An Ode to May

If April showers bring May flowers,

Let me say with fret,

I’d really like to stop and smell them

But school’s not over yet.

Back in August, even September,

I was really on my game.

With homework, lunches, permission slips,

Sleep schedules, art in frames.

But now it’s Spring and the end is near

And the fever we’ve all got.

We are ready for the summer

And pretend it’s warm and hot.

And even though I know deep down

That I’m not setting good example,

I just can’t help that my apathy

Has become more than ample.

The lunches, oh, the lunches!

Packing them has me in tears,

I feel like I’ve been slapping ham on bread

For forty-seven years.

Where I used to slice fresh berries

Now I count jelly on a cracker

And curse myself for telling my kids

That it’s cool to be a packer.

And homework, oh, the homework!

I’m not checking you anymore.

If I have to sort through one more folder

You’ll find me drooling on the floor.

I’m not helping more with math,
I’m not checking extended answer.

Don’t tell me you’ve got a big report--
You’ll never see me run any faster.

And testing, oh, the testing!

It’s a never-ending treat!

Please stop telling me that you need

A healthy breakfast to eat.

Please stop telling me that

You need a full night’s sleep.

Forcing bedtime when it’s light outside

Makes even me start to weep.

And extras, oh, the extras!

All those other special things you do,

I love your talent but all these things

Are a lot for us to sit through.

By month’s end I’ll have seen you run

And sing and play and throw and bat,

I’ll be sunburnt at soccer games

And my rear will be quite flat.

We’ll not eat a family meal

During all this running round,

Unless you count a fast food combo

In shifts, upon the ground.

We’ll not have a tidy house,

Nor  spic and span one by far,

We’ll barely have clean clothes to wear

Because I’ve been living in the car.

And though I know I’ll miss these days

When you are grown and gone,

The month of May seems to go

On and on and on.

But at the end there is a summer

That makes me smile and spin!

No homework, no testing, to extras,

And we can finally sleep in!

Nearly three months of freedom

For kid and parent, too,

Then we start all over fresh,

Loving what we do.

Originally written 5.1.16