A sad-looking potted succulent.

That was my Giveaway today on my walk in the evening. It is also probably a reflection of my state of mind after another challenging day of Summer Break.

We are getting close to the end of Summer Break and of my wits too. There have been many lovely moments this summer break – get-togethers with good friends, precious time with family, car trips to lovely places. However, it hasn’t felt like a break in the sense of a rest. In my attempt to help my son Theo with his math, I set myself up for a hard summer, and it proved to be just that. My best-laid plan of less days at summer camps and more math practice meant Theo has been spending more time at home than usual. Sure, he’s done a lot more math than in previous summers and hopefully has patched up some of the holes in his knowledge, but the downside has been that we have been arguing more about math and video games than ever before. With four more days until school starts again, I am feeling deflated, discouraged and drained of any confidence as a parent.

I’m sure that as I set off on my walk this evening I looked like the human equivalent of that potted plant, drained of energy and hunched over with my head hanging low. Hopefully, someone will scoop up the little plant and carry it home with them and nurture it the way I couldn’t over the last few weeks. As soon as school starts, I need to do the same for myself. Summer break, indeed. Feeling Summer Broken…