The month of anxiety

Panic is the word that best describes the mood of families with young children at the beginning of September, the month that announces the approach of the new school year. Parents worry about the expenses they will incur buying new items and school books that probably have been changed because of the perpetual changes of programs--so they cannot buy them for less as second hand.

Children also fear the start of the new school year, but for other reasons than their parents. Some have not finished yet the summer homework that many schools impose on students, while others are just upset because they will soon have to wake up early again and go regularly to school, after they were just getting used to the delightful and chaotic lifestyle of the holidays.

Their mothers know what kind of work to expect starting in the next month, after the morning when she prepares breakfast for her children, until they come back home and take lunch and before they start doing their homework with her assistance. Actually, what she regrets most is that these new tasks will deprive her from visits that she was used to pay daily to her friends and neighbors.