June Jitters

June Jitters
When we were kids, the new academic session at school started in June. The academic sessions ended in April after the final exam and declaration of results, and we had two full months and a fortnight to enjoy. Those were no TV days. Most of us paid an annual visit to grandparents and relatives, and sometimes we would have visitors. The closing day of the school before the summer vacation literally meant throwing the bag and all the paraphernalia pertaining to school once we got home. Amma would let us be for an hour or so and then take us to task post lunch. My brother and I would then carefully put away the bookbag, the books, the uniform, and everything associated with school in our racks.
Days would slip by in merry making with cousins and friends, the assigned tasks forgotten, and weeks would turn into months, and soon June would be knocking on the door. There would still be so much left to do. The times tables had to be learnt, the story books had to be read, and handwriting had to be worked upon. And to top all this, the anxiety of facing the teachers- a few of them were known to be strict - meeting classmates and getting into the schedule somewhat half- prepared was overwhelming. Coupled with this, the warning from the seniors that” studies of higher classes are much tougher than you think” made us even more anxious. We would share our fears with Amma, and she would brush them aside with a simple “Everything will be all right”.
Today, my kids are of school -going age, I still feel the jitters, as today’s generation is possibly more pampered, or as parents, we are more involved in our children’s lives. Even though I get everything ready, make all the required purchases, I can’t get over the anxiety of letting them go after the summer hiatus. I get the “Empty Nest Syndrome” feeling, I feel diffident about my abilities of getting them ready for school on time. But time has proved otherwise, and I have got them ready just as before. I also feel nervous about them having to face their fears by themselves and drop them in school on the first day of the new session. Each year as they grow, we have become better.