Only 3 F's

Guess what? It's that impending doom time of year. Back to school. August 17th. Whatever happened to starting school in September? At least it's so sunny outside you can't believe it's real that all the joy in life is about to be sucked away from you. No more staying up late, no more letting kids sleep in, no more fun in the sun, vacations, picking tomatoes off the vine, lazy reading with kids, going out to do fun stuff, swimming and fishing and watching the whole Harry Potter series in a weekend...(oops, some of that we just barely got around to...). Back to getting lunches ready, cleaning out backpacks, doing homework, checking power school, not finding updated information on what is happening at school, and the dreaded GETTING READY IN THE MORNING! UGH! I can't get my kids up before it's time to get ready for bed, really.
We will just hope that the pep talks I've been giving people magically seep into their sub-conscience and this year things will be better. Last year,two boys known previously as Gigio and Carino turned into Tom and Huck. Yes, the magic of fishing bit, and bit hard! Ice fishing led to Wii fishing led to thawed out fishing and everything has been all about fish, fish, fish. At least I won't go hungry... Anyhow, Huck's track record in school had been sketchy at best and by the time the school year ended, I had thrown in the towel. I quit the BAHA, the EAR, the hope that someone would ever eat his own lunch, or that anything I ever say or do to him or his teachers could possibly have any influence on anyone's behavior or his learning. He would have to be a 6th grade dropout. School would not save his future. A friend asked him a week after school got out how school had been that year. He replied, "Not bad, I only got 3 F's!" (English, Science, and Math)(P.S. I am the proud parent of a child who get's A's in P.E., Art and overall Charm. He even flunked lunchtime) Clearly the answer to his future is to become an Olympic diver.
Their Papi got Tom and Huck into some great sports camps this summer- soccer, basketball, tennis, and volleyball, so by the time swimming and diving camp came around they had had it up to their eyeballs with camps because it was encroaching too heavily on their precious fishing time. So much for the Olympic dream. Except, now that it's past, Huck would like to go to that camp, so next year, my hopes might be fanned. Meanwhile, something will have to happen with school. I am not going to lose my sanity this year. I am going to find a way to make this work... Any suggestions?