I can see it now that we are six weeks in, but Summer Mom™ came out of the gates, perhaps a little too hot this year.
We started our Schools Out For Summer anthem the first week of July, with visits from family and Canada Day celebrations! Then there was a baseball game turned pool party, a five-year-old birthday party at the beach, homemade popsicles, a school-wide summer picnic, and I cannot forget the swimming lessons all 3 kids participated in at the same time.
This all brought us to approximately Day 14 (out of something like 60) of summer. And mama realized she set the pace a littleeeee too quick
Next up was Jayce and Everly’s Ninjas camp, which took place for three hours every morning at a gymnastics facility. Thankful for the few hours break, but still, there’s a good amount of juggling to manage the other child that is not in Ninja camp, too. Right after that we moved into Art camp, evening bike rides, multiple stops for ice cream and splash park hangs. I still can’t believe how many outfits these children were going through every day and the driving all over town and the re-applying sunscreen and the constant head counting near the water. And the food. Oh my gosh, the food. Are anyone else’s sweet children eating, like, all the time? I was chatting on the phone with my sister one morning, no exaggeration, I think my toddler interrupted to ask me for yogurt four, maybe five times? And we had none. So four, maybe five times, I answered him, “We are out of yogurt, Rems,” and even with a growingly stern voice, it just was not computing. But being out of food is pretty much on brand for us this summer. Everyone is scraping the bottom of the pantry barrel for sustenance at this point but tell me, what’s actually wrong with having three popsicles for dinner? It’s 36 degrees today and I think we earned it.
And just for a public display of excellent parenting and obvious concern for hygiene, Jayce and Everly went off to another camp this morning, and Evie still has the temporary tattoos she put on all over her arms yesterday and I’m pretty sure my youngest woke up in the same shorts he played in outside the evening before. So, you know, make of that what you will. The pile of laundry I need to fold is currently taller than me, and I just found towels in the back of the van from when we went swimming at a friend’s pool SIX DAYS AGO, still wrapped up tightly and wet and smelling lovely.
It’s fine, everything is fine.
The thing about summer is that it is just too fun, too full of everything that feels right in the world, to stop. We had the best time at our VRBO lake house we rented. What a wonderful week filled with outdoor adventures, water fun and marshmallows. The kids laughed until they couldn’t keep their eyes open anymore and every single detail felt like grace.
The kids have spent hours and hours and hours in the backyard, climbing up and down the blow up waterslide, jumping on the trampoline, and playing baseball. We’ve read, at least a little bit. We’ve watched the Super Mario movie I don’t know, at least a dozen times. We’ve caught up on doctor and dental appointments. Life is moving at a clip that it just can’t in other seasons of the year, and while there’s not much balance–we seem to be either flying high with squeals and giggles or falling apart and rolling on the floor in a tantrum because we missed naptime–I wouldn’t trade this season for anything.
So yes, Summer Mom™ is tired and there is nary a vegetable in sight. But could this mean, possibly, we are doing something right?
///
I hadn’t seen a ladybug in a while but have seen three in the past couple of weeks.
This is the summer I’m waiting on bread, a whisper, and a re-commissioning.
Google Play and the Google Play logo are trademarks of Google LLC.
