Tag: summer

Summertime Sadness

I love back to school time. The fresh loose-leaf paper, the clean binders, and dividers just waiting to be marked with each class subject – all used to excite me far more than the actual act of going back to school.

I loved full and part-time homeschooling the kids. Setting up an area of the house for our work together was fun. Middle school is a different season, as is coming out of covid schooling. Both are liking aspects of their new school, for which I am very grateful. We’ve been fortunate with amazing teachers despite our living and moving all over. At 3 weeks in, we are all settling into new routines and so far – so good. There’s been one issue though….between the late dismissal at the old school, the move/unpacking, and the mid-August return at the new school, it’s left us all feeling a little robbed of a proper long summer where we actually have a chance to get bored.

It’s still 90-100 degrees outside, so even though the calendar says September, the weather is screaming July. Violently. With the heat, none of us has any appetite for pumpkin anything, let alone any sort of fall comfort foods, so baking and cooking has been minimal. Fresh fruit salads, lots of crisp, juicy melons, cool salads – anything that doesn’t require an oven or long times standing over a stove. After this heat wave, I’m looking forward to fall for a bit of relief from this heat and humidity. In this case, relief is spelled, o-c-e-a-n.

Luckily for us, fall and winter will bring cooler temps, but we can always get a taste of summer whenever we need it!

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The Sun

On the back porch bundled up with a morning cup of steamy goodness, I admire the sunlight dancing on the water. There is nothing quite like reveling in a radiant morning. Daylight is an ever-diminishing premium as the days get shorter in the fall. As spring sets in, the long daylight hours never come fast enough. Growing up in the Pacific Northwest, I never thought much about it, it was a fact of the seasons. Living in other areas of the country opened my eyes to seasons in ways I didn’t expect. What do you mean there are seasons?! The glorious fireball in the sky can shine in more than 2.5 months of the year?! You don’t say!

The grey bone-chilling wind comes in right off the sound.The moody skies are best taken in from the comfort of a blanket and a warm fire.

The years spent living elsewhere have diminished my ability to withstand gloomy winters. I have read about the benefits of blue lights and even had one last time we lived here 8 years ago. Many moves ago the light gifted to someone else, I’ve not felt the need to replace it. Layering up long pajamas, the natural blue light enters my retinas. The sky, enhanced by a soundtrack of the loudest morning birds, showcases the area. The beauty of the PNW is often hiding behind a blanket of murky, low hanging clouds that threaten all manner of precipitation..

I love the quiet before the bustle of the day begins. The moment to just exhale and be. I crave these moments like oxygen. I need sunlight. This landscape is gorgeous, but this doesn’t feel like home anymore.

Come on warmer, sunny days! I’ve missed you!

Boredom

Oh Summer.

With the conclusion of the school year, the reduction of my gym hours, the kids and I are experiencing the sudden loss of structure. I’m actually enjoying it, and for the most part, they are, too. There is a common theme that has arisen as of late, however – a whole 14 days into the break – boredom.

The dreaded summer “b” word.

Last week, my sweet son whined to me, “I’m bored. I have nothing to do. And I’ve used up my iPad time.” (Yes, that’s limited!) Somewhere along the way, I was dubbed the activities director. Sadly, this is a job I do not want, nor did I apply for.

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“Why don’t you use that big beautiful brain of yours to figure out how not to be bored,” I replied.

Eye-rolling (brain searching) commenced and a few mutterings. I choked on the suggestions of 500 things he could do that were sitting on the tip of my tongue ready to spew all over. I waited. About 2 minutes later (felt like 30) he drug out the sidewalk chalk. Little sister joined him.

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And 45 minutes later, they were still super involved in their hopscotch project. No whining. No bickering. Just 45 minutes of bliss.

Later, I was sent this article (thanks Angie!) that confirmed what I’m figuring out: Boredom is the birthplace of creativity. (Yay research for backing me up!) I also keep seeing articles about “How to give your kids a 1980s/1970s type of summer” complete with exploration, being bored, taking the days as they come. I LOVE this! I sure as heck don’t want to be the family chauffeur. I don’t think spending my summer in the car sounds like fun. I cannot be the activities director. I will not (nor can we afford) week after week of camps all summer long. (We are doing 1!) We are taking this one summer day at a time.

It WILL be full of swimming, bike riding, yummy lunches they help make (hello, cooking camp in our own kitchen!), but none of the hyper-organized structure. More of the “What are you up for today?” and less ticking off a must-do list that leaves us all harried and cranky. I am so looking forward to this!

But, in the event the dreaded B-word rears it’s ugly head, I’m now prepared!

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What about you? How are you spending the summer months?

 

School’s Out for Summah!

Yesterday was the last day of school. A day that we’ve all been looking forward to. No more having to get up, schedules to keep, or homework to complete. As I walked up to pick up my tender-hearted little girl, she ran to me and buried her face in my lap. I asked her if she wanted to go hug her teachers or say goodbye to any of her friends. As I looked into her brimming little eyes threatening to spill over, her lips trembled and I knew. “I just want to go,” she said in a small voice. In the car she let it all out, sobbing all the way home that she hated having to say goodbye to people.

As a military family, it’s what we do. And our kids do it right along with us. So far, she’s been so young with our moves that it didn’t really affect her. But no more. She knows now. She gets it. And my heart breaks right along with hers. Between hiccups, she cried and said, “Sometimes I wish we weren’t military so we didn’t have to keep saying goodbye to the people we love.” The end of the school year, for her, represented what she knows is coming sooner or later; we will move to a new place and start over. Again.

Having a good cry, a FaceTime session with Grandma and later a bike ride with Daddy, a sense of acceptance and moving on settled in. They are so resilient. It’s tough to be sure, but they do bounce back.

It’s now day 1 into our summer break. I’ve been up for exactly 4 hours.

Four hours into “vacation”.

We’ve eaten breakfast, my daughter has painted. The dog has played fetch 36 times. My son has reached the next level of Minecraft. I’ve been attempting to study. She has had at least 4 costume changes so far. The sadness of goodbyes has started to fade.

Have I mentioned that my daughter has been painting? Yes, painting at the table. Five beautiful new masterpieces now decorate our kitchen table, drying on the not-so-good kitchen towels.

Have I mentioned that she is also a talker a story-teller? A non-stop talker story-teller, in fact. As I sit here attempting (for the thirty-seventh time) to read the same paragraph, she is making up stories about her paintbrushes and “how they land – SPLOOSH! – into the paint. Just like a swimming pool! See Mommy!? Watch him splash into the pool of red! He doesn’t have a bathing suit though. But he doesn’t need one. He’s a paintbrush!” She then dissolves into a fit of giggles at her own joke. “See Mommy?!!”

“Yes, I see.” Mommy really really needs to read and concentrate right now…

Elmo’s voice counts loudly from an iPad. Barbie and her friends and accessories are strewn all over, awaiting their demise at the hands, er jaws, of our dogs. The phone rings, snacks are requested, games will be played, studying will get done (even if it has to be after they go to bed). They will play with other kids at the gym (Thank you gym childcare workers! You will be saving my sanity and I’ll get to work with clients!)

Despite the adjustments – this summer is going to be a blast! As my daughter has unknowingly demonstrated, there’s a time to be sad, to say goodbyes and see you laters, and to adjust to new schedules. But it’s also about embracing what is, waking up and being excited about what this day may bring.

Even if it does involve paint, play dough, toys all over and a little less alone time. 

Bring it Summer!

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