While there's still a month left before the autumnal equinox, and a week before Labor Day, summer ends today for my two sons as they return to…eek, school. But it's not, as the Staples ad once inferred, “the most wonderful time of the year.” What's really annoying is that they have half-days for almost the first full week of school. And they've started early this year so that they can have a full two weeks of winter break in December–the time of year that you least want to have kids underfoot.
I remember that a two week school stoppage because of snow when I was a kid led directly to the conversion of our garage into a family room that spring…