As Labor Day quickly approaches, so does the first day of school. Now, I've been out of school for, well, a number of years, but it still depresses me to see all these Back To School shopping ads. I do love the idea of new clothes for Fall. But still, BTS means and end of Summer; the end of freedom; a return to teachers and homework and annoying and sometimes really upsetting peers. Yeah, I'm sure you're stupefied to learn that a girl named Hero had issues with bullies in school. I'll give you a moment to recover from the shock.

Not that I was at the bottom of the food chain. I don't want you to get the wrong idea. I traveled in my own little circle and was fairly popular with the mid-level citizenry. And school and I would have gotten along just fine if it weren't for a few really sore sticking points. Such as: Mandatory attendance; forced hard labor (aka gym class); perpetual public humiliation (aka - aka gym class); unreasonable expectations (homework and projects that interfered with social and TV schedules - like we had no life outside of school!); and the constant, unrelenting (and SO unwelcome) imposed interaction with inferior beings (aka stupid/boring/annoying/snotty/and otherwise undesirable classmates). I'm sure many of you can agree.

If I could have had more of a say in who I was in class with, what my schedule was and the expected work load, .... yeah, who am I kidding, I would have been in class with the same 12 - 15 people, done little to no work and went to school 2 days a week and 5 days off instead of the other way around. There's no denying it.

The only good thing about school was my friends. The social part was great! (when I wasn't being teased about my name) I'd make a terrible parent, now that I think about it. I'd totally sympathize with my kid and let them stay home from school and wouldn't care if they slacked off on their homework. I mean, come on, so far in life the greatest use I've had for the majority of stuff I learned in high school has come from watching Jeopardy! (which I totally rock, btw)

I'd be good at BTS clothes shopping, being the Mom that let's all the kids hang out at their place and the kids feel comfortable talking to. Other than that, I would fail my re-entry into the high school system.

Guess it's a good thing there are no children in my future! I think.

Hero