The second hand of the clock was stuck, I swear.
We were sitting in the classroom in the sweltering heat waiting for the bell to ring. Our teacher had done her best to while away the final hours of the school year with a movie, an art project and a math game, which, by the way, is an oxymoron if there ever was one.
But the seconds ticked by with agonizing slowness.
I was glued to my desk by sweat and a cruel twist of fate. For an entire year, I’d been stuck next to the most evil force in fourth grade, a kid named Douglas.
Douglas knew precisely how to torment me. He broke my pencils in half. He bashed me over the head with his empty Pringles can. He snickered at my fumbled answers when the teacher called on me. He cackled with joy at my every faux pas.
I wasn’t about to tolerate such treachery. I got in a few jousts, too. Our feud intensified as the months went by. Not surprisingly, I spent a lot of time in the principal’s office that year though I told my mom that I was there because of the free jelly beans.
So it’s no wonder I watched the clock on the last day of school with the intensity of an inmate waiting to be sprung from solitary confinement at a Super-max.
June is purgatory for kids. Summer and the promise of freedom are tantalizingly near but slogging through those last few weeks and days is tough.
For many parents, though, June is the last-chance month. It’s your last chance to get your home ready for summer entertaining. It’s your last chance to savor your freedom before the tidal wave of kid demands for snacks, playdates, beach trips and ice cream.
And it’s your last chance to leisurely stroll through our stores and check out the extraordinary inventory of top-quality furniture and home accessories. Hurry in to one or all of our three stores in Hanover, Natick and Plymouth today!