<p>No matter how old the kids are or I AM, once school is out I get the “wish I had the summer off” blues!</p>
<p>(of course so glad to have a job and BE working…but putting that aside…)</p>
<p>Right now, having time to get up early, walk the dog, play in the garden, take care of a million organizing jobs in the house, prepare the garage sale, find a pool to sit by, make some fresh salsa (and eat it), read late into the night cause I wouldn’t have to get up in the morning (and work dressed), and just ENJOYING SUMMER sounds SO good.</p>
<p>Sigh. The bummers of going back to work after the first weekend at the cottage and the first nice weather weekend of the summer. :)</p>
<p>I think the “summer off” ideal comes from our true core…our childhood. Summer seems to mean freedom to most people even if we don’t have any more time off.<br>
Or we could all move to France and have most of August off…</p>
<p>Totally agree! It is worse if many of your friends work in either the schools or academia. So it feels like everyone is free but me. Whine…</p>
<p>Personally, I’d vote for us becoming more like France, and instituting at least work slow downs in July and August, though a full month off sounds very reasonable. Remember in the '60s, when with automation, we thought the work week would decrease even more? We’d all be working 25 hours a week, 3 days weekends, etc. It still seems far more preferable than much of the population working 10 hour days and another segment unemployed. </p>
<p>Many years, summer just seems like a lot of work. Yard work, gardening, packing and unpacking for little getaways, painting the house, kids home from college. All of it is fine, but is so busy, that reading a book for a few hours is a dream put away for January. Yet I love summer, which is what makes all this busyness exhausting as well as fun.</p>
<p>I’m a teacher and while I didn’t choose the career because of the summer perk, it is really quite wonderful. The best part isn’t having the time itself off (although it is great), but rather, having a fresh start every year. Summer is a way to reset my life. Clean out, dust off, prepare for the fall by refecting on what was good and what was bad about the previous year. I agree that everone should have that opportunity. It’s like a rebirth, really.</p>
<p>Starting the end of June, I’m going to have my first summer off in over ten years, and I am unbelievably psyched. I work a 12 month job at a college, and every May it would set my teeth on edge when my faculty friends would talk about what they were doing, and act as if everyone had the summer off. Plus, for the past 5/6 years, my H who is now a teacher has had them off. And many of my friends and neighbors are also in some kind of academia. </p>
<p>So I am thrillllleed to have my summer back, even though it’s taking a huge pay cut to do so. (well, not really “huge”. I don’t make nearly enough for the cut to be big. I’ll just be making “even less” than before.)</p>
<p>Although it looks like your academic friends have the entire summer off, looks may be deceiving. While I’m on a 10 month contract, there is simply no way around completing much of my prep for the online part of my teaching load in the summer. That said, it makes my regular semester so much easier to have that portion of class prep done and I can do it at home with some summer tv on in the background - think French Open/Wimbledon matches or Kathie Lee and Hoda. I do love the summer break for the flexibility it affords and that chance to build up a new store of patience before the school year starts!</p>
<p>I know my H gets work done in the summer, as do the other teachers I know. And as Iwill be doing. However,doing so in the backyard sitting by the pond at one’s own speed looks good to me–and H would totally agree.</p>
:)</p>