Mantoan Family Traditions – August

August was so busy this year, I couldn’t even get my family traditions post up in time! But, now that we’ve wrapped up our final summer trip (a Labor Day excursion to Cleveland), I’m hoping to settle into a fall routine and catch up on some writing. So how do we usually spend August? 

Spinal Muscular Atrophy Awareness Month

August is a big month in the SMA community. Sometimes I will write posts about different aspects of SMA or caregiving, and one year I ran a 5K as part of a series of runs I did to raise money for SMA charities in honor of my birthday. Other years, SMA Awareness (or Pride) month slips by without much notice. As Fulton and Teddy are getting older, it will be up to them if they choose to do much advocacy during this month. I often feel like I’ve said all I can say on my end, but sometimes, something will inspire a post. You can read all the posts in my SMA Category.

August 10, Feast of St. Lawrence

A good excuse to grill dinner and set off fireworks.

August 15, Feast of the Assumption of Mary

For years our parish has done a large Mass for this feast day. Since our church building is small, the Mass is held at the Cathedral Basilica of Sts Peter and Paul in Philadelphia. Extra muscians and choir members are brought in, and people travel from all over the area to attend. It’s a long service, so some years we all make it, and other years, just a few of us will attend. 

Tony’s birthday

Tony’s birthday is August 16 (two days after his dad’s birthday). We usually go out to eat to Red Lobster with his parents as a joint celebration (though that didn’t work this year). Otherwise, I usually make him whatever meal he wants, and at some point my parents will visit and my mom will make him a very rich peanut butter pie. The kids usually buy him lots of candy and snacks, as he can be tough to shop for. This year I also got him a six pack sampler of various microbrews. 

Return to School

College resumes

This is a newer tradition! As we traditionally have started our homeschool after Labor Day, the only time school has started in August is for those taking online classes, community college courses, or a new university semester begins. This year, I took Byron back for his last semester at Kutztown. KU begins pretty late. When we took Addie to Cleveland for her first year at CSU, we dropped her off much earlier in the month. As Edie is pursuing an apprenticeship, this may be our last August drop off for a bit (although Teddy already wants to know when he can take community college classes).

Homeschool Planning

When we did year round schooling, we always took August off. That, ideally, gave me lots of time to plan for the new school year. With only Edie homeschooling the last two years, I’ve had no trouble getting my planning done in plenty of time. But when more of the kids were at home, a good chunk of the month would be spent cleaning out old materials, putting things away, planning for the new year, ordering books, and writing lesson plans. This year has definitely been busier, but more of that in my upcoming curriculum post. In fact, a yearly blog post on our curriculum choices has also been a tradition for as long as I’ve had the blog! Sometimes I post it in August…worst case, it’s up by mid-September.

Fantasy Football 

Once Fulton and Teddy started getting into football, it was only a matter of time before I introduced them to Fantasy Football. Tony had done a league for a long time with his brothers, but at some point that stopped. With the boys new found enthusiasm, we restarted the league and the draft (held late in August), along with the constant trading and smack talk, makes football season more enjoyable. 

Even though we’ve done MDA camp in August the last few years, I included camps in my June post. August has also historically included lots of beach trips, usually with my grandmother, but I covered beach trips in July. So, it’s another shorter traditions post, but that’s fine as things tend to pick up in the last quarter of the year. How was your August?