Skipping the Last Week of School? Where Was This Genius Move When My Kids Were Still in It?

Let me be clear right up front: My kids are in college now. The backpacks have been traded for dorm fridges, and the most chaotic thing I have to deal with at this point is a group text about tuition payments.

But if I had known back then what I know now—that skipping the last week of school is not only possible, but apparently a thing? Let’s just say this dad would’ve been holding a beach towel instead of a carpool clipboard.

I stumbled across an article on TODAY.com that stopped me mid-scroll. A mom, Grace Mattei (@thegracemattei on TikTok), explained why she lets her kids skip the entire last week of school. Not for a family emergency. Not for a vacation. Just because the last week is, in her words, a total circus.

“The last week of school is chaotic,” she says. “There’s no real learning happening. It’s just parties, movies, and cleaning out desks.”

That sound you just heard? Every parent of grown kids smacking their forehead in unison.

Because she’s absolutely right. The last week of school isn’t school. It’s Summer Break Lite. It’s popsicles and Pixar and one last ride on the dodgeball train. And here’s Grace again, casually dropping the mic:

“I’d rather spend that time making memories with my kids, doing things we enjoy, instead of forcing them to sit through pointless days at school.”

Honestly? Same. I would rather have done that. I wish I’d known it was even an option.

Back when my kids were in elementary and middle school, we treated that last week like it was the educational playoffs. Full attendance. Rigid schedule. Honor the routine. We packed lunches for five full days of what turned out to be...coloring pages and “Despicable Me.”

You know how many end-of-year desk-cleaning days I sent my kids into, thinking they were off to conquer fractions? All of them. Every year. Like a sucker.

And look, I’m married to a former school teacher. I know exactly what that week looks like from inside the classroom. The learning window has slammed shut. The students are feral. The glue sticks are dry. The teachers? Just trying to survive on caffeine and air conditioning that may or may not be working.

If someone had floated the idea back then—“Hey, what if you just didn’t send them for those last four days?”—I would’ve laughed. And then cried. And then started packing the car for a mini road trip.

But we didn’t know. We followed the rules. We showed up, even when “school” was just a Disney movie and a paper plate award ceremony (“Most Likely to Need a Nap”).

Now, watching this new wave of parents reclaim that time? I salute you. You figured it out. You cracked the code. You said, “Hey, maybe my kids can miss a few days of watching Finding Nemo and instead make an actual memory.”

And guess what? The world keeps spinning.

This isn’t about disrespecting education. Far from it. It’s about recognizing when the system has clocked out. If the building’s still open but the learning stopped three days ago, maybe there’s something better you can do as a family than count the hours to summer break.

So no, I didn’t let my kids skip the last week of school. But I wish I had. And if I could go back, I’d absolutely trade four days of “free reading time” for one afternoon at the zoo, two milkshakes, and a family photo that didn’t involve a lost lunchbox and a meltdown in the parking lot.

If your kids are still in it? Think about it. Because that last week might not be worth the backpack it rode in on.

And if you need me, I’ll be over here wondering how many hours of end-of-year movie days we sat through... and whether anyone ever found that glue stick cap.