³ÉÈËXÕ¾

SEATTLE NEWS ARCHIVES & FEATURES

End of school burn-out: Parents need summer break, too

Jun 14, 2013, 4:28 PM | Updated: Jun 16, 2013, 8:15 am

Jen Hatmaker lost her steam sometime in April. She took a photo of her son’s homework log, wh...

Jen Hatmaker lost her steam sometime in April. She took a photo of her son's homework log, which she hadn't signed for over a month. (Photo: JenHatmaker.com)

(Photo: JenHatmaker.com)

Author Jen Hatmaker wrote a blog post about parent burn-out that both Dori and news anchor Ursula Reutin can relate to. Hatmaker is calling herself .

Parents these days are expected to be much more involved in their child’s school lives – and that means parents get just as burned out as kids at the end of the school year.

“You know the Beginning of School Enthusiasm? When the pencils are fresh and the notebooks are new and the kids’ backpacks don’t look like they lined the den of a pack of filthy hyenas?” Hatmaker wrote. “We are limping, limping across the finish line, folks. I tapped out somewhere in April and at this point, it is a miracle my kids are still even going to school.”

Dori’s youngest daughter is graduating from high school this week. He’s spent the winter and spring coaching her varsity basketball team, going to tennis games, and more.

“I don’t remember my mom having to do everything: the costumes, and baking every other week,” said Dori.

At some point, you just have to realize that you can’t do it all. Between end of year parties, teacher’s gifts, and finals, something’s got to give. For your sanity.

“I was helping one of my kids with an end-of-the-year project yesterday and I was thinking the only reason I have to help him now is that there aren’t enough hours in the day to get everything done,” said Ursula. “I finally told my son: who cares if you get a B?”

Seattle News Archives & Features

Associated Press

Mountain lion bites 4-year-old on popular Olympic National Park trail, injuring child

PORT ANGELES, Wash. (AP) — A mountain lion bit a 4-year-old who was walking with their family over the weekend on a popular trail in Olympic National Park in Washington state, park officials said Monday. The child was injured during Sunday’s attack and flown to a trauma center in Seattle for treatment, according to a […]

20 days ago

Tom Brock

Bear Gulch Wildfire near Lake Cushman growing in size

A wildfire burning near Lake Cushman continues to grow in the Olympic National Forest.

22 days ago

Associated Press

Seattle man charged with string of burglaries at the homes of NFL and MLB stars

SEATTLE (AP) — A Seattle man was charged Friday with a string of burglaries at the homes of prominent current and former football and baseball players, marking the latest example of well-known athletes being targeted in home thefts. Earl Henderson Riley IV, 21, was charged with several counts of residential burglary in both occupied and […]

2 months ago

Associated Press

Campgrounds closed along Pacific Crest Trail in search for man wanted in daughters’ deaths

SEATTLE (AP) — Authorities have closed a wide swath of popular campgrounds and backpacking areas along the Pacific Crest Trail in Washington as they search for a former Army soldier wanted in the deaths of his three young daughters. Dozens of additional law enforcement officers from an array of agencies joined the investigation and search […]

2 months ago

In this undated photo released by the Thurston County Sheriff's Office, a cache of military weaponr...

Associated Press

2 arrested with arsenal and Nazi paraphernalia after base robbery were ex-military, prosecutors say

SEATTLE (AP) — Two men arrested in Washington state with an arsenal that included grenade launchers and body armor, along with Nazi paraphernalia, were former military members who attacked a soldier with a hammer while stealing gear from Joint Base Lewis-McChord last weekend, investigators say. Levi Austin Frakes and Charles Ethan Fields were arrested Monday […]

2 months ago

Associated Press

Authorities are searching for a Washington state father of 3 dead girls

WENATCHEE, Wash. (AP) — A Washington state father is wanted for murder after his three young daughters were reported missing and then found dead. Police on Tuesday asked the public for help in finding the father of the girls, Travis Decker, 32. He is wanted for three counts of murder and kidnapping, the Wenatchee Police […]

2 months ago

End of school burn-out: Parents need summer break, too