Summer afternoon - summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language. ~Henry James

My absolute favorite days of the year? Hmmm, that is a tough one. Possibly Thanksgiving. The Food, the smells, the gathering of family, watching football and the endless counting of our blessings. There are no expectations around it, except, of course, the ones that I place on myself to cook the perfect meal.

Christmas Eve has always been magical for me and even as a 40 something mom of 3, I go to bed that evening feeling like I am 7 all over again.

And of course, Christmas. I think as a mom it is even better than when I was 7. There is nothing like seeing the joy in your childrens hearts.

But one of the top running days has to be tomorrow. The last day of school. The exhilaration I feel the last day of school is tough to beat. While in school it was the euphoria that exams were over, I had no homework for a couple months, and I planned on spending the summer at the pool and on the tennis courts. Today, it is the same euphoria, maybe even greater. I do not have to pack one more flipping lunch box, help with one more project, and my alarm clock does not go off(well, it does for Brock, but I get to roll over and ignore it). I am not fighting the boys to get to bed at a decent hour or pulling them by their toes and bribing them to get out of the bed in the morning. Nope, not after tomorrow. We get to sleep in and fix lunch whenever we feel like it. The only homework we have is our summer reading. The pool is open and instead of going there to socialize with my friends as I did when I was in high school, I am going there to collapse in exhaustion from the stress that the month of May has brought me. I will feel the warmth of the sun on my face and it will slowly, but oh so surely,release the stress from my body.
That last day of school is something special. It is a celebration of parents and children alike of a job well done, and a break much needed. And it quite possibly is my absolute favorite day of the year.
But I have been known to change my mind come mid-August, when I am about to pull my hair out begging for that first day of school to start.