Fall break.  Christmas break.  100^th day of School.  Spring break.  Nothing measures up to the LAST DAY OF SCHOOL! Usually the excitement is related to the academic work no longer required.  However not seeing their friends for the summer for many is emotional, lonely, and for some  worrisome and traumatic.

Schools come in all personalities and sizes these days.  Prep Schools, Private Schools, Christian Schools, Public Schools with Uniforms, and Public Schools without uniforms- and of course Home School and more!  Regardless of how excellent, good, mediocre, bad or horrific the school may be young children bond and take ownership and pride that it is theirs!   Since Kindergarten my grandson has dressed up for every school special occasion whether it is a party-visitor-program-election day, etc...  No one ever tells him to and several times it was quite a moment when Mom didn’t have the right clothes ready!  Today was a dress shirt with jogging pants and then as no surprise to me when the teacher announced it was time to hand out the awards he pulled out a suit coat he had been sitting on to wear for that moment!  He has true appreciation for special occasions and that is how he shows it.

When my reader base grows to thousands there will be hundreds of comments about unhappy children in school.  I didn’t mention happiness in paragraph one because I am aware that is true.  However, the need to identify with having what all other children have overrides the need to be happy.  So a young child will be proud of their school and friends and defend them as they share whatever the situation may be.  All of us as adults are sharing life with a group in some capacity; work, church, neighborhood, apartment complex, sports, hobbies, etc….  In most of these situations it is sad that so many people are unhappy.  Even more disturbing is the fact that often we pull away from each other and often pretend to be “fine” when we are not.  The truth is that we know the reality of our situation, just like the kids do.  But accepting who we are, where we are, and finding contentment and owning it often comes with great difficulty.  I am not saying there are not issues to fight as adults to bring positive change to our environments.  I am saying that pride among other things keeps us from accepting what we cannot change and enjoying what good God has for us in it. Perhaps we can learn from the children………