Nathalie: Ah, back to school! Shopping for school supplies, new notebooks, filling the pencil box with brand new pens, the anticipation of discovering your new class, your new teacher… The feeling, in this time of new beginnings, that anything is possible. I miss it so much. As a child AND as a parent. In both cases, I loved everything: the excitement, the organization, the whirlwind, the return to a certain normality after the summer… When I hear parents complain about this mad rush, I want so much to tell them: “Enjoy every moment. One day, you will miss it, I swear!”
Philip: Dear Nathalie! I would love to lighten your nostalgia (and my own routine by the same token). I still need two orange duo-tangs, a blue pen as well as a red, green and purple one (I’m not making this up), a 15-centimeter ruler, four 32-page Canada notebooks and two 80-page ones. To be given back to me at the office when we meet, please! You can also fill my pantry with granola bars and my fridge with ham and cheese for sandwiches. Oh yes: my eldest needs black pants that both match her tastes and her school rules. Good luck with the shopping… You understand that I’m one of those who moan at the start of the school year!
Nathalie: Ha ha ha! With pleasure, dear! A diary with that? Seriously, I think we have to accept that the start of the school year is also a big mess, it’s part of the fun. Could teachers be less strict in their demands? I was one of those who believed it, until I heard a teacher on the radio explain that the colors of the materials helped them a lot in organizing their class. Where I agree with you, however, is on the question of lunches. What a nightmare. We should so imitate Scandinavian schools and offer a free canteen service in all our schools. We would kill three birds with one stone: provide a meal for ALL children, ensure a balanced diet AND lighten the load on parents. But hey, I’m dreaming… As for clothes, I was lucky that my daughters attended secondary schools where uniforms were mandatory. Holy peace for five years (apart from a few sanctions for insubordination related to said uniform!). This too should be the norm everywhere in high school!
Philip: I totally agree with you about the free school canteen! In the same vein, it seems to me that instead of providing an allowance to parents to buy school supplies (a measure introduced in 2018), schools could take care of it. This is done in Finland, for example. A great way to ensure that all students have the right equipment — not to mention that buying in bulk saves money.
PHOTO DAVID BOILY, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Our two columnists believe that Quebec should “imitate Scandinavian schools and offer free canteen service in all our schools.”
More fundamentally, what weighs on me about the start of the school year is the return of routine, of life regulated to the quarter turn. The freedom of summer is coming to an end and that has always made me feel down. As a child, I loved school and I understand the excitement you mention — seeing friends again, learning who the new teacher is. I relive it today with my children. But the pang in my heart of knowing that summer is over, with its long days to invent, has always been stronger.
Nathalie: The challenge is to carve out some carefree moments during the week. That’s another thing I love about going back to school: making big resolutions about the life you want to lead “from now on,” resolutions based on the wonderful moments you had on vacation when you felt free and carefree. And then you find yourself in November, tongue on the floor, already pale, wondering how you’re going to make it to April in one piece. But admit that for a few weeks in August and September, you really believe that everything can change! And it’s this incredible feeling, even if it doesn’t really last, that makes me love this time of year so much. More concretely, though, that we accept a lot of things without questioning them too much. Take homework, for example. Or the length of the school and work day. We’ve been doing things the same way for decades and it’s clearly not producing very good results since families are tired, on the run, on edge. It seems to me that we’re due for a big discussion about time…
Philip: Homework! Thanks for mentioning it. In my visualization of the upcoming routine, I had (conveniently) forgotten it. I think kids have too much of it. We want them to move, but we overwhelm them with work. There are only 24 hours in a day. But your words inspire me, dear colleague. For real. I had never seen the start of the school year as an opportunity to reinvent everyday life. I am making a first resolution, here: stop complaining and face the upcoming routine with dignity. I will prepare lunches while singing and manage the chaotic departures for school (“Do you have your metro card and your English notebook? You’re going to be late!”) with the zenitude of a Buddhist monk. We’ll talk about it again in November!
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