When the school year draws to a close, parents begin looking forward to the slower pace of summer - with a less regimented schedule, relaxing family vacations, and a long list of menial household chores to inflict upon the children anytime they mention being bored.
But in the weeks before school ends and these leisurely activities commence, parents must survive an onslaught of recitals, awards programs, concerts, banquets and other occasions that require me to take a shower and put on long pants.
This year, since my wife and I were already physically and mentally shattered from running the end-of-school gauntlet, we thought we might as well finish ourselves off by hosting a pool party for my middle daughter's ninth-grade class - mostly to justify paying thousands of dollars to have an enormous retention pond installed in our back yard a few years ago.
