Mom, child sad about 'One Month Until Back To School' poster for opposite reasons
BRANDON, MB—A month can be so long. Or not nearly long enough.
While headed to a 6 a.m. soccer practice this past Saturday morning, Kathleen Robertson, 37, and her son Calvin, 9, were each stopped in their tracks by a sign adorning the front of a local Staples—a horrifying red and white rectangle poster bearing the words: "ONE MONTH UNTIL BACK TO SCHOOL!"
This caused each to burst immediately into tears, though for entirely different reasons.
"One month?!?! I just… thought we were closer," says Kathleen.
"It seems like… summer just seems like it's been so long. So, so, so long. How can I have 30 more days of this? I mean don't get me wrong, I'm loving spending more time with him. Oh, yeah, totally, for sure. I just… yeah."
"One month!??! Summer literally started yesterday," says Calvin.
"Yesterday is literally the day that summer started. Didn't it? Do you remember? I swear it was like… wasn't it yesterday?"
Kathleen and Calvin then shared their feelings about the sign with each other, if not their actual thoughts.
"Wow," choked out Kathleen through a sudden overload of emotion.
"A month, huh, buddy. Did you ever think that's how much of summer was left? Oh, and did your friend Shaun's mum end up saying anything about letting you sleep over for a week or two, or a month?"
"Hmmmm," said Calvin, trying not to let out his complete incredulity and outrage that she had brought up the end of summer, thereby making it real. He considered it kind of like a no-hitter in baseball that way; everybody obviously realizes what's going on, but it's only by uttering it out loud that you truly threaten it.
"Yep!" said Kathleen.
"One month. Wow."
"It goes by so much faster than you think," said Calvin, outwardly calm while everything inside him was howling with despair at the gods, at the sky, at that sweet summer sky so soon to disappear.
"It does??" replied Kathleen, touched that her busy little 9-year-old would take even a moment to reassure her that the month would pass quickly and that soon, so soon, another adult—a group of adults, even—would be responsible for him for approximately 8 hours a day.
"Yeah, I guess you're right," she added, trying to join in her son's valiant optimism in the face of 30 more days of hardship.
"Wow, pretty insensitive, rubbing salt in my wounds like that," thought Calvin. But then, upon further reflection, he realized his mother was trying to teach him an important and valuable lesson—summer goes by quickly, both figuratively and metaphorically, and only speeds up as one grows. He realized his mother was only trying to give him the benefit of her experience, and to teach him to enjoy each day of summer he had, one at a time, living in the moment rather than counting how many moments remain.
"I love you, mom," he said.
"I love you, son," she replied.
They both walked off in calm silence, a smile crossing Kathleen's face when she remembered that it would be the music teacher who got to listen to Calvin practice his saxophone playing for a few months.
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