On Tuesday, my kids and I went into their school to help set up for the year. State schools in parts of the UK are returning for the autumn term in the coming days and in parts of the US, including New York, public schools go back next week after Labor Day. In both cases, it’s the end of a very long break, and these dog days of summer aren’t easy; most of the college-age babysitters have disappeared, summer camps are over and the lure of the iPad looms large. And yet, unpacking boxes of books in my children’s third-grade classroom this week delivered a greater sense of renewal than New Year’s Day.
Some of this frisson speaks, simply and sadly, to my relationship with stationery – the thrill of cracking open a new exercise book has never quite faded. But even before I had kids, the September reset hit heavier than new starts at other times of the year.
