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WILLIAMS: Starting the ‘new year’ in August
By BRIAN WILLIAMS, Are We There Yet?
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I know this may upset Father Time and the New Year’s Baby, but I believe the “New Year” really begins in August.
I realize January has tradition and the calendar on its side, but, for many of us, the year really begins with school.
O.K., I admit that I don’t know anyone who celebrated the first day of school by popping the cork on a bottle of champagne while the air was filled with a downpour of balloons and confetti.
That doesn’t mean I haven’t seen that wistfully anxious look in several adults’ eyes as they said, “I can’t wait for school to start.”
For the young, everything is “new.”
New clothes for school, new school supplies, new classes, new friends, a new grade and a new teacher. It’s a smorgasboard of new.
For many children, it’s a new beginning. Even those who aren’t attending a new school will find a new teacher awaiting them. The path of learning takes new twists and turns. New subjects are studied and old favorites have new additions.
Social circles are broadened as familiar faces are mixed with new ones. August is the time of the year you’ll most often hear the phrase, “I made a new friend today.”
For parents, the newness comes with price tags.
I can understand buying new notebooks, filler paper, pens and such, because they were used up last year. But not everything was used to its full capacity.
It’s funny how a ruler that was perfect last year isn’t quite as good this year.
“Dad, it’s on the list, so we need a new one.”
Talk about a buyer’s mentality. I know the dollar doesn’t stretch as far as it did last year, but I believe inches and centimeters have stayed the same. It’s a hunch, but I bet last year’s ruler will measure just as accurately as a new one.
Still the “new” button seems to get pushed whenever the opportunity arises.
Clothes are even a “new carryover.”
Not only do kids want new clothes for school, but when they get to school they see all of the new clothes everyone else is wearing, and they want them, too.
Right now, it seems what I need most is a new calendar.
Brian Williams is Connections Adviser for The Ottawa Herald and a single father. E-mail him at bwilliams@ottawaherald.com.
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