Peaches, Strudel, and the Second New Year

BY ANDREW DAVIS, HEAD OF SCHOOL

Peaches, Strudel, and the Second New Year

The same phrase popped into my head twice this morning before I made it to campus. Strudel, our labradoodle, enjoys ear scratches and belly rubs with me on our bed each morning. Over the summer, I would attend to Strudel’s petting desires, sip coffee, and read a book for thirty minutes or more. With Robin and me both on campus this week, that has diminished to nine minutes, the length of one snooze. As I stopped rubbing his belly and got out of bed, Strudel looked at me as if to say, “I don’t want summer to end!”

I then went upstairs to make breakfast, preparing my go-to oatmeal with fresh fruit. As I sliced a beautifully summer-ripe peach, I thought to myself, “I don’t want summer to end!”

Yes, there are elements of summer that I don’t want to end:

Time with extended family. This summer, we were fortunate to spend time with our parents, our siblings, and their children. The kids played card games together, told stories of shared wilderness adventures, and went to the ice cream store nearly every night. The adults swapped stories of our own childhood memories and travels, and, of course, talked about the children. Our parents enjoyed all of it.

Big adventures. Each of us in our household had a big adventure. Robin won a world championship in Spain, coaching the U.S. Women’s U24 national ultimate frisbee team. Our boys hiked and canoed the wilderness of New England. And I ran the 170-mile Tahoe Rim Trail over eight different days. Summer afforded us the time and space to go big.

Mornings with Strudel and peaches. Who knows what Strudel was really thinking as I left him on the bed. I was projecting my own longing for leisurely mornings. And the reminder that once peach season ends, I will be back to bananas each morning inspired this post. I don’t want peach season to end.

And while all of this is true, I am actually more excited for summer to end. The start of the school year brings:

A return to routine. Summer’s flexibility, like deciding to hike to a beautiful view after dinner, comes at the expense of routine. While I can imagine a future blog post about the fun of breaking up calcified routines, having a known plan feels good. It provides meaning. And there are far fewer “What are we doing?” and “But I don’t want to” moments.

A chance to reset. The start of the school year and its associated routines are a great opportunity to reset family norms. The other night, one of our sons said, “I guess when school starts next week, we are going to be back to our old screen-time rules.” He is right. From screen time to bedtime, school year expectations, with some 2025–26 modifications, are on the horizon.

A fresh start. The new year brings new teachers and new classmates. This affords all of us a chance to start afresh. Yes, we can rock a new haircut or switch from our red-shirt-only uniform regiment, but we can also get a fresh start with our friends and our teachers. They don’t know it yet, but I saved a summary of the June growth reports for each boy—strengths and areas for growth—to inspire this fresh start.

Asking what’s possible. The start of school is a second New Year’s. It is a chance to consider what we can do with the ten months ahead. While I doubt this will immediately resonate with my children, I think they and we feel deep down that the school year is a chance to wonder what we can do, be, and become. It is a chance to ask what’s possible.

So the final score is 4–3: excitement for summer to end wins. And while I am excited for school to start, I will miss the joys of summer. At least I still have a few more weeks of great peaches.

TGIAM is the blog of Andrew Davis, Head of School. TGIAM = Thank Goodness It's Almost Monday.