In my mind, I love summer. I’ve worked endlessly to make sure I have a job where I have most of the summer off to spend with my kids. And I do enjoy it.
Mostly, the idea of it.
The reality of it? Yeah, I do enjoy it, for the first few weeks, at least.
And I hate to admit it, but I’ve learned this fact, year after year of having summers to spend with my kids. I LOVE summer for the first 3-4 weeks- really up until about my birthday- July 20th, right smack in the middle of summer.
And also what I’ve learned- summer is like a hike up a mountain. The first part, the hike up, right up until mid-July, around my birthday, is fun, and adventurous, and joyful. And then we reach the peak. Wahooo! In Sheakspeare’s words, “A mid-summer night’s dream.”
And then, it’s time to head down the mountain.
The first part of summer, for about a month, mid-June to mid-July, is full of trips to the lake, story-hours, museums, playgrounds, bike paths, picnics. We wake up, put on our swim suits, and live in them for the rest of the day. We have campfires and eat s’mores, we kayak down local rivers, we back-float in the lake until it’s too cold in the evening, we get ice creams every other night, and fully enjoy the sun and wonder of summer time in VT.
And then, we become a little bored with it. The kids go to camp. They love it. They need rest when we get home. They hang out for a few days. They snack endlessly. They create laundry. They hang out with the neighborhood kids and invite them to run in and out of the house all day long.
I mention going to the lake. They protest. I get them up to go to story hour. They exclaim how they’d rather die than do that. And it is then, when I realize, we reached the peak of the mountain, and we’re on our way back down.
You see, there’s a shelf-life for summer time. It really just starts to rot after about a month or so. Unstructured, unplanned, relaxing days can only last for so long. From mid-June to mid-July they’re exactly what we need. And then they become, in a lack of better terms, a never-ending, downhill hike from there.
Just in June this year: We went to the lake 8 times, we kayaked down Clyde River, we camped for a long weekend at Tree Corners campground, we attended 4 Story Hours, we hiked two different trails, we visited my mother twice.
Early July, keeps going: we went to 3 parades, we were in one of them! We went to Boston for a long weekend-- enjoyed a Whale Watch and Red Sox game. We went to see the fireworks. Attended 3 pot-luck cook-outs. Hung out at my family’s camp. Had sleepovers with friends, went yards-saling, fishing, sailed on grandpa’s sailboat, and completed 1 week of theatre camp and 1 week of outdoor adventure camp.
And then, there was August.
Downhill from there. We spent he first week camping on dad’s week off, which was a good time. But you know what? We were kind of already over it. We had already spent countless hours swimming, exploring the woods, and hanging out outside. The sun, honestly, was just a nuisance. We wanted Wi-fi, inside bathrooms, and the ability to cook with a stove and oven.
We came home. We did practically nothing,
Nothing,
For a week and then two weeks. Went to the lake a few times, spent lots of time with the neighborhood kids, and got bored. Real bored. The kids drove mom crazy. Mom drove the kids crazy. Mom tried to reorganize the house. Mom tired to implement a chore chart. Mom failed. Mom yelled at the kids. The kids resorted to using more technology than what they should for it being summer time. Mom nagged the kids to work on summer reading. The kids fought back and decided to argue instead of read. Mom went grocery shopping. The kids ate all the food out of boredom. Mom would buy more groceries but after spending all of the extra money on the first part of the summer and camping, mom and dad are pretty much broke.
Mom turned off the TV and forced the kids to go outside. The kids had fun outside, but also got into trouble outside. Mom grounded them. Mom realized it was more of a punishment for herself. The kids got sick with sore throats. Mom attempted to bring them to the doctors and somehow got hung up at the Canadian border for an entire day. Dad bailed her and the and the kids out. Mom went to Walmart to get groceries. Mom went to Walmart again to get more groceries. And then again. Mom went to Walmart again, to buy school supplies. Mom spent all the money. Summer still wasn’t over.
Ladies and gentlemen, there’s 1 week left. 1 week left of unstructured, “relaxing” summer days.
Then it’s back to school. Back to work. Back to routine. Back to packed lunches, grocery planning, sports-filled weekends, and complaining that life is just so damn busy.
And let me tell you: I can’t wait!
Just like every good thing in this world, there’s shelf life for summertime. The lack of structure, planning, and responsibility for time can’t last forever. It’s good for awhile. And then, we remind ourselves of all the reasons we need some type of routine in our lives. Let the school year begin. Bring on the homework, and soccer practices, and early bedtimes.
Christmas? No way. Back-to-school is truly the most wonderful time of the year.
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