Today@Dal

Published September 19 in the Globe and Mail:

Fall is a time of endings, as the leaves drift down from the trees and the daylight hours ebb. But fall is also a time of beginnings, with students starting a new year and, more generally, individuals flocking to new ventures, from yoga to Spanish classes. As prelude to the end-of-year holidays, fall can also be the busiest season, the placid pace of summer replaced by a frenzy of work and personal activities.

Michael Ungar, a professor of social work at Dalhousie University, sums that all up with two phrases that give new clarity to the work-life balance issues of fall. Working with families, he has found it’s “a time of transition” and a “time of renegotiation.”

Although spring is considered the season of renewal, beyond farmers and gardeners he says, “I don’t see much renewal in spring. There’s the Christian mythology of Easter. But often in May and June you’re ending things [ahead of the summer holiday season].” In fall, however, people start over again. It’s a time to rethink what you’re doing and the roles in your family.

Children start new levels of education, some of them momentous like the first year of high school or university. The new grade level signals a new maturity – or expected maturity – and parents and children renegotiate roles, sometimes not so easily. “Over summer, the rules were suspended. But now parents feel the child is older and ready for more responsibility, or the parents haven’t changed but the child feels ready for more responsibility,” he says. “It a renewal of vows in families. It’s time to rethink how we relate, what we do, and reciprocity – who will do things.”

Read the rest of this article at the Globe and Mail's website.