A certain staged, yet humurous back-to-school photo showcases a Kelowna mom lounging in her pool with a drink in hand while her daughters stand dressed in their Aberdeen uniforms looking incredibly unimpressed.
While not all parents have a pool in their backyard, the sentiment is not lost on many parents who look forward to September, when the house turns peacefully quiet.
On Wednesday, Viau told KelownaNow that while the photo was staged, the smile on mom's face could not be more authentic.
"Oh it was very real," laughs Viau. "And not just the 'I'm done with you' kind-of-phase, but they hogged the pool all summer long," she said. "Having all their friends over - they used to be little and now they're just big and annoying."
According to Viau, her daughters occupied the pool for most of the summer, while the moms sat and chatted poolside.
"We never want to go in when they're in there. They splash and make a lot of noise, so I'm just like, 'Yeah, I got the pool to myself, see you later,'" said Viau.
Another very real emotion in the photo are the girls' unimpressed looks.
"They knew I wanted to do a funny photo like that so they kept procrastinating," said Viau. "They were like, 'It's 30 degrees and you're going to make me get in my uniform,' I'm like 'Too bad, mom wants this photo.'"
"For sure. I would say pre-kindergarten, when I sent them off to kindergarten - that was the tough one probably."
But she said it helped that her kids have always loved school and looked forward to going back.
During their younger years, it was hard seeing them off to school, but when they hit their pre-teens, she started looking forward to September.
"I would say in the past couple of years - once they started talking back and making me drive all over town to take them places," she said. "When I could keep them at home, I could entertain them, and that was a little bit easier, but now they want to be driven everywhere - all over town."
While not all moms or dads may share Viau's sentiments, and children might be shocked to learn this, Viau admits that some stay-at-home moms look forward to getting back to their routines.
"I think most stay-at-home moms put on hold what our normal routine is," she said. "Going to the gym and keeping up with housework and all that kinds of stuff gets totally put aside in the summer and so this week is just jam packed for me and all my friends."
"We've tried to arrange something, like to go out for lunch and it's impossible. Everyone's got hair appointments because their highlights have all grown out and their roots are showing because no one did it during the summer," she said.
While she's enjoying the quiet now, she admits that seeing them leave home for good will be a completely different experience.
"Oh, that's definitely going to be hard. That'll be really hard. That'll be very quiet," she said. "I mean it'll be a chance to get to know my husband more I suppose. (she laughs). Sometimes we look at each other and we're like, 'One day...they're all going to be gone.'"
"I have a friend who says her husband always tells her, 'One day it's just going to be you and I so this better work out.'"
While temperatures are still somewhat warm, Viau intends on getting her friends together to finally enjoy that pool.
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