What did those kids do to that nice lady?

Friday, June 6, 2014

Sum-Sum-Summertime

So, it’s almost that time of year again.  And I know what you’re thinking...isn’t every day Father’s Day?  No, no, no, not that holiday.  The really, really...really long one that comes right after that.  The one that lasts not just for a day or a week, but months. Come to think of it, some of you may be experiencing this holiday RIGHT NOW.

Summertime.

Here’s the thing about summer.  I’m ready.  I’m down.  I am waiting for it with my arms wide open, ready to be embraced in a big, warm hug of no morning rush, no homework, no drill sergeant scheduling.  No leaving the house strictly by 8 am, fingers crossed that Offspring sorta kinda brushed their teeth.  No making lunches covertly in the corner praying the Children don’t notice you and when they do, because they always will, this happens:

What are you putting in my lunch?
Food.
What kind of food?
Food you can eat.
Tell me what it is!
It doesn’t matter.
YES IT DOES!
You like it, don’t worry.
WHAT IS IT?
It’ll be a surprise.
YOU KNOW I DON’T LIKE SANDWICHES!
Go bother your father.
He’s in the bathroom!
Of course he is.

So yeah, summer has a smiley face on it right now.  A big, beaming smile that will ultimately start to fade into a crooked, deranged one come August.  But we’ll get to that another time.  Like, in August.  If I’m still alive.  Or not in Mexico.

Now, I’m not one to ship my kids off to camp week after week in the summer.  I don’t “work,”  I “stay home” and have “lots of time to run errands” and “work out” so there’s no reason, besides mental sanity, (which is completely overrated), for them to be gone day after day, week after week. Also-damn!  Those camps are expensive.  Also-damn!  You gotta be on top of that shit in like March and I’m too lazy to think about summer in March.  I don’t WANT to think about summer in March.  I want to think about March.  

 So, as much as I know that my kids will drive me crazy during the dog days of summer, I will try embrace the fact that it’s the 10 weeks or so of the year that we’re not racing off to something, we’re not getting mad about homework or being dragged out of bed.  Sure, we’re getting mad that HER ELBOW TOUCHED MY PLATE, but that sort of behavior is enjoyed year round.   I want my kids to remember summer the way I remember it; long, lazy days filled with the outdoors and my imagination.  I know that I can’t replicate my own experiences for my Children and I certainly want them to have their own, not to mention that summer in Iowa and summer at the beach will have their obvious differences, but I desire for them to have the sense of freedom that summer should hold for kids.  These years are slipping by too fast and what I wouldn’t give to have one more day to feel the grass upon my back with the sun shining on my face, the scent of lilacs in my nose, and the day wide, wide open in front of me.  

What does that song say?  Summertime and the livin is easy?

Here’s to easy living this summer to you and yours.

(Also-I’ll most likely be insane by the 4th of July so maybe just check in.)