Routine

  It's back to school time. Where I live school won't begin until the day after labor day. That was a big discussion last year. Like most "pressing and important" decisions made by administrators, the argument is mostly forgotten. On the local news they had an expert talking about preparing your children to go school either for the first time or returning. She was talking beyond purchasing all the supplies, the back pack and markers. Being a highly educated expert on the matter she urged you to establish a routine. Yes, establish a bedtime for your children and have them get up on time. She was aware that some parents allow that to go unchecked during the summer months and indeed she proclaimed that is what summer vacation was for. It was a time for children to shirk all their responsibilities. Well, they earned that during the school year. 

 I agree with that advice. Children need a structured environment complete with chores and expectations. My folks just called that, acting right. I remember well going to school and the routine involved. I had a bedtime. It was eight o'clock. That didn't change in the summer though, bedtime was still eight. I can't say when that changed, sometime in high school I'm thinking. It wasn't a gradual thing. I had a bedtime, then I didn't. I still went to bed about eight though. There were only two channels on the television. Dad was watching the television, Lawrence Welk and his champagne music makers wasn't of much interest to me. There were no video games, no snap chatting or tweeting. You certainly weren't out running about at eight o'clock at night! 

 The time to get up didn't change in the summer months either. I wasn't allowed to just lie in bed all day! Get up at nine in the morning? I don't think so, seven was late enough. Get out of bed and find something constructive to do, or at least get out of sight before Dad found something for you to do. It surely didn't pay to hang around complaining, I'm bored. Yeah, bored are ya? Well now I've got just the thing for that. No, best to get up and rush out the door. As a result when it came time to go back to school I was ready for that. There was no excuse for being late. You had to be pretty sick before the thought of staying home was entertained. And if you did stay home sick, you were sick. That meant no television, no going outside, none of that. I was given ginger ale and tomato soup. Here's a book when you feel well enough to read. 

  Ah, back to school. For me it meant getting some new clothes from Sears and Roebuck, JC Penny or possibly Brills store. Brills store was a local shop that sold factory seconds, although I didn't know that, but they were a bit cheaper. So what if the stitching was a bit crooked or the sleeves different lengths. Inspector number 8 became a friend of mine. I did have to change out of my school clothes after getting off the bus. That lasted until about mid-November or so. I'd get some new clothes again at Christmas. I didn't carry a back pack. 

 I was using those big elastic bands with the hooks on the end, deadly weapons apparently. My lunch box was good American steel as well. I had a thermos with a glass liner that matched. I didn't carry a pencil box, that was for sissies and brainiacs, might as well have a pocket protector! In high school a Bic stick pen was all that I needed. Yes, I was supposed to have a three ring binder and I did, although it was useless as far as I was concerned. Never did understand why teachers then thought that was so important. But that was all the supplies I needed, a three ring binder, paper, some dividers, a protractor, seldom used for anything, a ruler, mostly to draw a straight line and a pencil and pen and I was good to go. 

 After I graduated high school I joined the Navy. The routine stayed pretty much the same. The big difference was staying out late at nigh because of the entertainment. Yeah, I was entertained alright and it was mostly to my detriment. I admit it took some time to come around to that reality as I was just having so much fun. Being in the Navy, getting that paycheck every two weeks, was everything being a "grown up" was supposed to be. But those are the years I reflect upon with a smile and chuckle. The first four where like that then responsibility set in and life became real. It was then I began to "act like you have some sense" that my parents often advised me to do. Now I know what they were talking about. That became the routine. I still get out of bed early and go to bed at a reasonable hour. I'm seldom, if ever late for anything. And that is what the routine is really all about, showing up. That's what we need to teach the kids today, you have to show up, on time, prepared for anything. That should be routine.