The boys’ opening day of baseball season is this Saturday. Their practice schedule hasn’t been too bad – mainly thanks to the weather which has drowned out most of the attempts of the coach to gather. And half the practices were during Holy Week, so they would have missed them anyway (the coach actually suggested batting practice for Sunday the 12th until I pointed out it was Easter Sunday).

But as baseball is gearing up, other activities are, mercifully, winding down. Three, count them, three more CCD classes. Billy has only four more den meetings for Cub Scouts. The girls have Girl Scouts today, and then only two more. Nine more weeks of piano and ballet before their final performances – but at least we can count that on two hands.

It’s not just the flowering trees and the blooming daffodils and the backyard mud patch sprouting grass and the empty tomb that are putting me in a good mood. It’s the sense of impending freedom. Where my highest priority is boiling noodles so I can make a pasta salad to take to the pool for dinner, and my to-do list consists of wishes, not mandates.

Nobody loves summer break more than a teacher.