End of school year depression?

[heartbroken22]

Anyone else get it? I used to get it as a child but now that's I've got my dd and she's finished her first year at school. I feel a bit sad. Mourning something but not sure what it is. Is it a fear of the future or not sure what's coming...no idea.

This is absolutely something I used to have! My DS is 2.5 so I don't know about how I'll feel when he's at school but I totally used to get it at school. I remember always getting a headache or stomach ache on the last day before summer because it was usually a "fun day" as in no lessons etc and I always felt this strange sense of anxiety and depression.
I think some people struggle with adjustment and working out where they are when something changes. My dad has just gone through depression since retiring because he didn't know what he was doing and who he was.
I'm sure in a week or 2 you will feel different OP, try and get out for walks and do some fun stuff and maybe book something to look forward to in august with your Dd xx

I reckon it’s the sudden lack of routine. I thrive on knowing what I am doing and when, having my activities etc on certain days, checking in with people and over the summer it can become a bit of a free for all.

I felt this wave of emotion yesterday waiting to collect my dd from year 5, school isn't easy for her and the school runs are hard but I guess it's the routine. I always feel a bit flat on the last day and as they finished at 1 I took her off for a nice lunch at our favorite cafe by the sea.

Yes, I assumed it was a concrete reminder of the passage of time and how they're growing up.

Didn't help that 'slipping through by fingers by Abba' was playing at the cafe ! Felt a bit teary

*my

I used to love this time of year but in the country I'm from, we got 3 months off school (less holidays at Christmas, Easter, earlier starts and later finishes and then an extra long summer) so it felt like a bit of a break from the constant work, work, work.

I wonder if ds2 has this. He has really not been himself over the past few weeks. I think he's struggling to get to grips with leaving primary and nervous about starting secondary. He's been really quiet and not wanting to talk about anything.

The end of term marks the passing of time and therefore life. Think it’s just that basically! I feel it too and DS (7) was a bit teary yesterday too.

I've had this and now as a parent I feel it when DC's final day at school comes around - the smell of the dried grass, the handfuls of paperwork and books and PE stuff, the kids looking hot and sweaty in their uniforms as they pour out the classrooms and the teachers looking relieved and exhausted, it all sends me back to being a child myself and that flat feeling of dread mixed with relief and sadness and "that's it". I had to flee from DC's school this year as it was still so overwhelming

I am absolutely on the spectrum (only discovered later in life) and hated the change from predictable routine to the empty holidays stretching on for what seemed like years. It was most pronounced after A-levels when I had full blown depression. I did tend to adapt after a while and relax into holidays and I now know to give myself some space and allow for difficult emotions when going through it as a parent.

Never had it but my mum to this day finds August difficult because of the absence of many activities.

Yes this. It’s another year of their education completed. Another year done and dusted. It’s the kids getting older and us getting older.

No definitely not. I’ve always felt quite euphoric on the last day of term even as a child and most certainly as a teen. I felt imprisoned at school and the summer holidays meant a break from the routine and total freedom to just be me.

I have 3 children and we have had some lovely summers off although I find the end of August can be somewhat depressing depending on the weather. By that point I’m ready for the routine to return.

Mine aren’t super little anymore so our summer holidays have a different feel now with the older two out and about doing their own thing and the younger one in holiday clubs. In that respect it feels a little bit sad as they don’t really want to do the simple things like park and ice cream anymore.

Nope. Always felt happy, although I’ve had a little cry at DS leaving primary. Time has passed in the blink of an eye. That’s scary. I’m really happy he’s transitioning to a lovely senior school as he’s ready for a change.

Weirdly, I'm feeling it as a teacher this year (own kids are grown up). It's been a long term and I just feel a bit tired and blue, I think - not helped by the weather turning to shit as soon as the holiday begins.

Yes, I always feel a bit weird at this time of year, I don't like it!

I don’t get it at the end of the summer term - as with a PP I feel euphoric and delighted that it’s time for the holidays - but I get it massively when they go back for the new year.
I think it’s the combination of the long unstructured days together, which I absolutely love, being over; the kids being a year older; the feel of autumn in the air and the calendar year coming to a close.

I found it sad that one of my grandchildren has just finished primary school. I got quite emotional. Two of the grandchildren have come through the school and been happy there. It's like the end of a era and it's sad.
I'm sure they should thrive at their secondary schools - one is there already, but they're growing up so fast.