Congratulations to the Class of 2025! You did it!
You ended one journey and another is right around the corner. It’s been great to be there on your journey through elementary, middle school, junior high and high school. You have done so much and there is so much more ahead of you. Enjoy this time, you truly deserve it!
Between the speeches and the celebrations there will be some words of wisdom coming your way. Here are my words for you – be happy and take care of yourself.
“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And you are the one who’ll decide where to go.” – Dr. Seuss from “Oh! The Places You’ll Go”
Nine-year-old Jonathan and six-year-old Oliver met a few of this year’s graduates at school.
The high school seniors had returned to their former elementaries for a clap out celebration. The current students lined the hallways and clapped as the graduates walked through the school.
I received an email hours before just as a heads up the parking lot will be busier than normal. I asked the boys if they had any special visitors during the day.
Jonathan said yes, some people who were going to college. He also said, “it was cool. Some of them gave me high fives.”
* * *
Everytime I hear some shuffling in the hallway and books moving on the bookshelf between the boys’ rooms, I don’t know if I am proud or scared my son is a reader just like me. I know the sound is Jonathan finding the next book to read…past bedtime.
I have to respond as mom – reminding him it is a school night and it is bedtime. It does make me wonder how late he will stay up during the summer. If he will fall asleep with a book in his hand, which he has done many times.
But, after my mom response, I let him know I get it. I was voted Most Avid Reader in fifth grade. I shared the title with one of my closest friends in elementary school. She now holds the title, well-deserved.
I probably have two readers who follow my habits. I carry at least two books on me. Jonathan will carry a book on him. Oliver will carry a book with him depending on his mood. There have been times he has grabbed one of his Pokemon handbooks. For awhile he carried around an animal book he found it at a little bookstore in Frankenmuth. He took it everywhere especially the zoo to find the animals in the book. It was well-loved so much so the binding broke and the pages came out.
Oliver also goes through his phases of carrying a notebook on him. Right now, he grabs his pouch of markers and index cards. I have put all in a big ziploc bag – it’s easier to carry around and throw into the boys’ busy bag if needed.
As May closes, I have read eight of 15 books for the 2025 Reading Challenge. I finished one book. It was one I started awhile ago and there was just something about it. I got sidetracked with another book. Then, another. I found it on audiobook and restarted it since it has helped with with finishing other books.
As for what am I reading now – it’s a lot. I am listening on Hoopla “A Murder in Hollywood” by Casey Sherman. I have replaced listening to True Crime podcasts with an True Crime audiobook.
I am reading “Madly, Deeply: the Diaries of Alan Rickman” by Alan Rickman. It was on the top of one of my to be read piles. The “bought this year – let’s not let it get buried with the rest” pile.
I do get distracted from “to be read” piles when I visit libraries. Within the last week I started reading “American Spirits: The Famous Fox Sisters and the Mysterious Fad that Haunted a Nation” by Barb Rosebstock. It was on the top shelf being displayed at the library. The display worked – it caught my eye and I read some of it while Oliver played in the kids area. I grabbed that book and the one next to it about Stephen King.
Honestly, a little surprised I am not reading both library books at the same time. But, my tote bag is getting quite heavy. At least one book did have to be taken out, but not the fiction book. I need a balance with all non-fiction books. No wonder my tote weighs 20 pounds.
As for my scrapbook goal, as I type this out I haven’t created anymore. The last few weeks have been busy. I have thought about it. I made a few lists. Many lists which also include summer activities with the boys.
Email book and summer activity recommendations to wprice@mihomepaper.com