Say "summer" and most people think "vacation." The reality is that most adults work year-round, and some seasonal workers may even be busier in the summer than during other seasons. Children of working parents may continue to have schedules just as structured as school—even if it's called "camp"—to accommodate their parents' long hours away from home. Teenagers may have jobs of their own. Still, the traditional mythos persists: summertime is vacationtime.

 By June/July, most of the children in the US have closed the books for the school year. For some children, summer means camp, or family vacations. For teens, it could mean a job or internship. Perhaps it's just lazy days playing with friends. But just because children are not stuck behind desks doesn't mean they have to stop learning.

Summer vacation is over and the weather is cooling off. School is back in session. After the lazy days of summer, America is getting back down to business. Fall is the traditional time, for example, to clean the house and get organized.

A hundred years ago, fall cleaning might have involved beating the carpets, switching the summer curtains for the winter drapes, and taking the heavy woolens out of mothballs (no wearing white after Labor Day). Today, however, fall cleanup is more likely to mean….tag sales!

It seems like the summer is just getting going, and already it's time to start thinking about back to school. The children may still be wearing bathing suits, flip flops and sunglasses, but many families are already thinking about books, backpacks and boots. Unfortunately for many families, back to school shopping may also mean whining children and nagging parents arguing over an endless list of electronics, expensive sneakers, and the like.