Unbelievably, summer is over. The beginning of band camp means that school is just around the corner, and everyone has to start living by a schedule again. She said … with no small amount of relief.

My favorite time of the year is upon us. School shopping is mostly finished, supplies have been readied and everyone is back to getting up at the same time and out the door.

Whoops. Not quite. For the first time in six years, August means something other than band camp for A.

He is now the one covering shifts when other kids aren’t available. He is sleeping in while the other two are making as much noise as humanly possible in protest.

He also rudely interrupted my “Ah, the house is quiet, everyone is gone, no one is going to bother me for snacks and lunch all day” routine, but I’ve moved past that.

I am really trying to enjoy these last few days with him, and maybe it’s a good thing that we have a few quiet mornings together.

And, in the other corner, it is quite amazing how the kid who was always the last one out the door and making everyone else almost but not quite late, is suddenly the kid who is up early and sending frequent updates to remind his sister that they need to leave on time. G is a new person, and I like it!

I’m not sure if it’s intimidation or curiosity, but E has been going along with her new chauffeur, too. Although I’ve done a quiet bed check this week, just to be sure no one misses anything important, I’ve been pleasantly surprised to see outfits laid out the night before, bags packed and alarm clocks set.

Secretly, I know the kids have been anxious to get back to their activities.

I have not been easy on them this summer. Knowing full well that this may be the last summer, I have three able-bodied and strong teenagers at my disposal, I had a very long list of projects that needed to be accomplished.

My goals were twofold: to get as much housework done as humanly possible, and to prevent the kids from lazing away their days on their phones and video games.

As a mom, I frequently have that feeling that everyone else in the house just has special vision that allows them not to see the messes.

I don’t know how else to explain it, because saying things like “clean up the kitchen” results in questions like “what needs to be done?” The sink full of dishes? The overflowing trash and recycling bins? The crumbs all over the counters and the floor? Pick one, any one!

As we’ve cleaned out sheds and porches and assorted other project areas, we’ve amassed a pile of scrap wood that we decided we would scrap all at one time, when all the areas were cleaned up.

This allowed us to pull a piece out if we found a use for it, or grab a small piece or two to start a campfire, if needed.

The day finally came to load up the remainder of the pile and take it for scrap. I asked the kids to load it up while I made another round of looking for anything to add.

When I came back, everything was loaded except for six pieces that were a few feet away from the main pile.

Dragging them back out to the project, I asked why those pieces hadn’t made the truck.

“We didn’t see them.”

Insert face palm here. I truly want to believe that I’ve done a decent job of preparing them to be people of substance in whatever environment they end up in, but if they leave the trail of toast crumbs and scrap wood in their wake like this, I question my parenting abilities.

I try to keep things in perspective. I mean, I still mow the yard, put the mower away and then discover that I missed two stripes of grass sometimes.

I may have forgotten to pick a kid up a time or two, but in my defense, at the time, they weren’t right in front of my face.

I try to be happy that they’ve gotten much better at planning for the next day, or getting up on time, and not be frustrated that “on time” means with enough time to eat their breakfast and toss the dishes in the sink, not take the time to wash them.

We still have a few weekends of summer left, and with all the work that has gotten done, I think I will be able to release them to really enjoy the time they have off in August.

G, of course, is planning some backyard adventures, camping and fishing with his friends.

E, for the first time in a few years, has asked to have a birthday party. Not on her actual birthday, which she shared with Steve, but on a new day that she picked “just for this year.”

I can get behind that. A few weeks ago, I even had some friends over to sit on the porch, enjoy some drinks and socialize.

It wasn’t easy, and I almost called it off 50 times that week, but after I did it, I was glad that I made myself do it.

We didn’t take a family trip over the summer this year. With the boys’ work schedules and our projects, we just ran out of time.

No one seemed to miss it much, though, and we will still probably take our real vacation over the holidays. I feel like the kids understand that it was more important to do things like get a new roof on the house.

I don’t have the same enthusiasm for anything that I used to, but I am looking forward to this coming school year.

Obviously, A will be on to a new adventure that he is excited and ready for, but E is looking forward to high school and new activities, as well. She joined the tennis team.

What I know about tennis can be summed up in “the outfits are really cute,” but I’m excited to learn and watch her develop at something totally new.

I’m also eager to see how this new and improved G turns out, now that A’s shadow will be 350 miles away.

Goodbye, Summer 2024. In the grand scheme of things, you weren’t the worst.

Liz Pinkey’s column appears Saturdays in the Times News.