No Back-to-School For Me!

August 9, 2026

Weird. That is the only word that comes to mind when I consider the fact that I am not returning to school tomorrow and that I have no kid to take Back-to- School Shopping. I couldn’t help myself. I felt compelled to make one trip to look at the school supplies, dorm décor and clothes. For an hour and a half, I listened to roommates, kids and parents negotiate about color schemes, mini-fridges and how to set up their spaces.  Somehow, I restrained myself to only buying a pack of my favorite pens and some dry erase markers for the classroom where I volunteer as a reading tutor.

Andrew is returning to school for a new semester in a few weeks, but as a PhD student, there is an extremely blurred line between the summer work he does in the lab at UVA and the start of the new semester. Basically, other than beginning to TA a class, and doing a candidacy prep course, Andrew is already in school full-time. In July he moved to a nicer place with a new roommate. We did a few things to help him get set up then, but there is no college move in and no flurry of purchasing essential items now. He buys his own clothes, pays his own bills and as of last week has his own health insurance. At 25, my son is a full-grown man who doesn’t need my help. As parents if we are raising our kids to be successful adults, we are supposed to work ourselves out of a job. I guess I did that, but it does seem very odd after so many years of parenting not to need to help my kid get ready for the new school year.

It also feels surreal that I am not preparing to return to my own classroom or library. I had no reason to buy new shoes or clothes with the sales tax holiday this weekend. My closet is full and there are no co-workers to impress. I have a plethora of office and school supplies that came home from my desk at work at the end of May, so I did not need to stock up at any of the sales.

Last night I had the typical teacher’s nightmare of not being able to find my classroom or my roster and knowing that my students were unattended somewhere in the building. At 3 am I was wide awake in a panic and then I realized that there was no reason to be anxious. Tomorrow when my colleagues return for leadership week, I will not be joining them. Instead, I will go for my morning walk and prepare to tutor later in the week.

For decades I helped my kids get ready for school and helped legions of other people’s kids learn needed information. I know I earned this time, yet part of me misses some of the excitement of Back-to-School. Tomorrow, I believe I will feel retired for the first time.