On the last day of school everyone was so excited. SUMMER BREAK! NO HOMEWORK! Not for me. My mother put me to work. My sister and I would have major projects around the house to do. Dishes? Please. Try painting a picket fence around an acre of land. I think I was 10 the first time she had us do it. Taking out the garbage? I wish. Try scrubbing a 600 square foot deck with nothing but a garden hose and one of those green dish scrubber things. Cutting down trees, picking up apples and wheel barreling them to the back of the yard, mowing the lawn with a push lawn mower (once with one that was a non powered)... these were the things I had to look forward to doing. But I have to tell you, every July, when I was at my wits end doing all this labor at home on my “vacation”, I would remember, school is coming and my attitude changed to gratitude. Remembering that school was coming gave me a panic attack.
