One of my favorite commercials of all time is an Office Depot add. A man and his children are walking through the isles of Office Depot with a familiar Christmas season tune playing in the background – setting the mood. The father is happily lip-syncing the words to the song as he glides down the isle. The children are dragging each step as if they are being led to their own execution. The male vocals cue up: “It’s the most wonderful time of the year!” It just cracks me up.

Now here’s the thing. (You knew there had to be a thing, didn’t you?) I can’t say that I identify with the parent in the add. I am personally indifferent to the whole thing. Whether school is in session or not, our schedule remains the same. During the summer we drop off and pick up Beth at (anonymous location #1) for summer camp. During the school year we drop off and pick up Beth at (anonymous location #1) for before and after care. In case you didn’t pick up on it – it’s the same place. My schedule remains the same throughout the year. Therefore, my only interest is my daughter’s interest. My daughter has been a little nervous about first grade, thus I have been a little nervous about first grade. I can remember when I was in school. In those early years didn’t exactly look forward to the school year either. Now that I’m the parent things haven’t changed much – no matter what Office Depot says.