Commencement Exercises

The school year ended with a clatter -- the clatter of books hitting walls, steps and floor, that is. Our quirky end-of-school observance stems from a scenario from my past in which I, in a fit of frustration, chucked my math book down the stairs. It was hugely satisfying.

One day when Isaac was feeling particularly fed up with school, I told him the story of my throwing the book, and I told him that at the end of the school year, when his workbooks were completed, he, too, could choose one volume to throw down the stairway -- but he had to do better than me, because he had to wait until the end of the school year. I think that this knowledge, the anticipation of debasing a source of aggravation, has encouraged him through the more mundane and obnoxious parts of the school year.

The day came and each boy was allowed to choose one book (a workbook -- NOT a textbook!) to hurl down the stairs with as much gusto as they could muster to celebrate their graduations. Levi and Luke chose their math books (children after my own heart), while Isaac choose his grammar workbook.

Thus concluded the 2010-2011 school year and the commencement of summer vacation.