I can’t believe the kids are already preparing to go back to school in July. I guess you have to now with school starting much earlier than it use to. As a kid, I would always do my back to school shopping in late August. We always got a summer vacation of 3 months (June, July, and August) and now school vacations only last 2 months. Our kids are still in class at the first of June and hearing those school bells ring again by the middle of August. It seems so unfair to them and I do feel sorry for them. The parents might like the short summers and this may work out better for them, but I know the children didn’t have a vote in this educational decision.

I have a lot of good summer memories as a kid and may have lost some of those with today’s school schedule. I would imagine the shorter summers lead to more families visiting the popular vacation spots near their hometown at the same times. These vacation destinations may have to seek more hotels and restaurants to accommodate the fewer days parents have to plan a family trip. I could see it being a short-term strain on them, but fewer days they can make money off the tourists. They may be other things that have a domino-effect from the shorter summers kids have now. Some of these are probably negative; while others are to the positive side. The stores will have to get their winter clothes in sooner to meet the demand of back to school shoppers. On the other end of the school year, they can wait longer to stock up on summer items. I guess the retail sectors will adjust accordingly to the school districts they provide for.

I always loved the first day of school; even though it meant summer was over. That first day of putting on your new clothes and shoes did make you feel good. Usually that feeling wore off by the second day, but starting a new school year was fun. You would get to see your friends again and hang out with them. It was always exicting to see how many friends you would have for a certain class, but it seems there was always one class that you wouldn’t have any friends in. I guess that “first day feeling” is just around the corner for most students. The kids living in my area have about 10 more days of their summer vacations left and they won’t enjoy them too much knowing school is about to start once again.