Is it bad that I am already worried about what I am going to do with my children over the summer and thinking of the ways I can get away from them and school isn’t even out yet?!
I do NOT have them signed up for enough camps, clinics, sports, etc…..there isn’t enough money in our account each summer to sign them up for all the sports, activities, and camps they want to do, nor is there enough time. I can already hear the dreaded, “Mom, I am bored.” coming out of their mouths or the groaning out of them when I ask them to help me around the house or run an errand with me. I miss the days of them being babies and us having a summer helper a few hours a week so I didn’t have to deal with the whines.
However, I don’t think anyone is more looking forward to sleeping in than me! That getting up at 530-6am every morning is for the birds!! No one told me as a mom I would have to become a morning person or that one of my children’s school bus would come at 712am each day.
Actually, I am very excited summer is almost here, it mean my children riding their bikes, scooters, and various other wheeled toys around the ‘hood and finding new friends in the neighborhood. Of course, in our ‘hood, it also means saying good-bye to some friends in the area too. See, we live in a 1st ring suburb that isn’t really growing and has more families leaving it than they do moving in. Two summers ago, it was my oldest daughter saying good-bye to her best friend and this summer, it will be my middle and youngest daughters who will be saying good-bye to close friends. Yuck, that has to be the crappiest part of being a parent!
But, with that, hopefully it will cause my girlies to get out there and discover new friends or become closer to eachother. I think I am prepared for summer this year, we got a 2nd fridge/freezer for the basement, so I should hopefully be able to keep up with the demand of snacks and meals summer brings.
I go from cooking 1 meal a day during the week and 2-3 on the weekends, to having to not only feed my 4 children 3 meals a day everyday, but whatever other children they bring home with them too! Summer means, endless flows of children through my home, constantly chasing our dog through the neighborhood because the ‘new kid’ didn’t come in the front door quick enough or lock it behind them. It also means, grilling out, fires in the yard, which also means the fire department will be here at least 5 or 6 times over the summer telling us, we are having a fire at the wrong time of day! 🙂
Summer means picking up the slack for those moms/dads that have to work and helping them watch their children, breaking up fights at the park, making sure our water balloon inventory is sufficient and Oh yeah, trying to keep the dog from jumping the fence everytime the children turn the hose on! (there is a familiar trend with our dog…..)
This summer also means the end of my middle daughter’s reign as our city’s Ambassador, which has been such a neat experience for her and us, I truly will be very sad to see it end. What will I do after the 4th of July when I don’t have to plan our weekends around parades?
OK, so there really aren’t too many ‘woes’ per say, they are mostly just new adventures and new activities. It means my house will have to be just a teeny bit cleaner so my girls can have their endless sleepovers and just in case we have friends stop by, ‘just because’.
Although, ask me in a few weeks 🙂
Blessings from this crazy, mixed up mom!