My Life Is Over

Ok, that's an exaggeration. My whole life isn't over, just my summer. At least according to Kohl's it is. Because it's July 17th and I just saw my first back-to-school commercial! I HATE back to school commercials. They have always been a source of serious anxiety and dread for me. Because once the first back-to-school commercial starts, it means they'll be on TV and the radio all the time. Perky voices gleefully announcing the end of all warmth and happiness and fun. Sadistic, I say. And there will be signs up in every store I go to, reminding me constantly that there will be no more sending my kids outside playing outside, no more dinner on the patio, no more walking outside without heavy coats and gloves and unflattering hats. Even after I graduated from college, back to school commercials filled me with a sense of impending doom. Because then I became a teacher, and the thought of my summer being over was even more terrifying. Papers to grade, entitled kids to argue with, grouchy parents to avoid. And even now that I am not in school and don't teach, and my summer lasts a few weeks longer than those poor teachers and kids, I still can't help but feel like my world is collapsing around me faster than I can pick it up when the back to school commercials start. Thanks for ruining my life, Kohl's.