Somewhere between the last science project and the first “don’t forget sunscreen” text, the calendar flips into a completely different dimension. It’s not quite spring, not quite summer. It’s something far more chaotic. It’s Maycember. The time of year when your Google Calendar looks like it’s been hijacked by a very ambitious event planner with a personal vendetta.
Field day. End-of-year parties. Teacher gifts, plural, because apparently one is not enough. Sports banquets. Dance recitals. And then, just when you think you’ve reached peak ceremony, there are continuations. Kindergarten. Fifth grade. Middle school. High school graduation, which we all agree is valid. But the rest? When did we start celebrating every educational checkpoint like it’s a mini awards show?
To be clear, these moments are sweet. Watching your kindergartener in a paper cap singing a slightly off-key song about friendship will absolutely get you. Fifth graders suddenly look like teenagers. Middle schoolers are somehow both too cool and still your baby. It is heartwarming. It is also a logistical puzzle with no edges.
Because it is not just the events. It is everything around them.
Spirit weeks that require a different themed outfit every single day. Pajama Day. Crazy Hair Day. Dress Like Your Favorite Book Character Day, which sounds adorable until it is 9:00 p.m. and you are hot gluing felt onto a hoodie. Sign-ups for potlucks. Coordinating carpools. Finding a white shirt, black shorts, and “comfortable sneakers” for field day. Items that, for reasons no one understands, do not exist together in your house.
At the same time, real life does not pause. Work keeps going. Laundry continues to multiply. Groceries still need to be purchased, even though everyone seems to be eating exclusively at events, snack tables, or out of mystery coolers in the back of SUVs.
And then there are sports. While school is winding down, sports are doing the opposite. Tournaments. Championship games. End-of-season parties where you realize you have been sitting next to the same parents for months and still do not know their names.
Meanwhile, summer is looming.
Summer. The magical, expensive, loosely structured time where children need both constant entertainment and “a break.” Which translates to researching camps, figuring out travel, booking flights, coordinating schedules, and answering the same question at least 47 times a day: “What are we doing this summer?”
It is enough to make anyone want to hide in the pantry with a snack they do not have to share.
So what is the move? Is there a secret system? A perfectly color-coded spreadsheet that makes it all feel calm and manageable?
Not really.
But there are a few things that help take the edge off.
First, not everything has to be perfect. The cupcakes can be store-bought. The teacher gift can be simple. Your child will survive wearing a slightly wrinkled shirt to their continuation ceremony. This is not the season for overachieving. It is the season for choosing where effort actually matters.
Second, divide and conquer whenever possible. If there are two adults, split the events. Tag team. If there is not, call in help where you can. Friends, family, carpools. This is a group effort whether anyone officially signs up for it or not. Tag TULA, we're here for you!
Third, lower the bar on everything that does not matter. Maybe dinner is takeout more often. Maybe the house is a little messier. Maybe you skip one more optional thing. Protect your energy for the moments that actually feel meaningful. TULA can handle your meal plans and even prep in some cases!
Because tucked inside the chaos, there are moments you will want to hold onto.
The way your kid scans the crowd and lights up when they find you. The proud, slightly awkward handshake as they “graduate” from something that felt permanent. The quiet realization that they are growing up, inch by inch, ceremony by ceremony.
It is a lot. It is too much, if we are being honest. But it is also fleeting.
So yes, roll your eyes at the fifth graduation. Laugh at the absurdity of needing three different outfits in one week. Text your friends something like, “Are we okay?” and know the answer is the same everywhere. Not really. But also, yes.
Because Maycember does not last forever. It just feels like it does. I like to keep a countdown to the day after the last day of school on my phone - kind of like a Christmas countdown when you were a kid, but different. Still equally as magical when the day arrives!
And then, suddenly, it is summer. You’ll get there. One day at a time.