When I was a kid, summer seemed to stretch on forever. Sleeping late, wearing shorts and running through sprinklers. And we had our share of day camps and a road trip or two but the majority of our time was unscripted and spontaneous. We were out of school from around Memorial Day to right after Labor Day. It was glorious!
Flash forward to the here and now, and summer seems way too short for all of the things I am trying to pack into it. My 5-year-old finished school the week before Memorial Day, but he has to head back to start Kindergarten on August 3. That seems crazy to me. There is another whole month of summer there in my mind.
This left me with the daunting task of planning a summer that would allow him to have fun with soccer and YMCA camps and continue learning so that he is ready for kindergarten. I also need to make sure we complete the gardens we have been creating in our imaginations and still find room for family time with trips to the zoo and aquarium. Last but not least, we all need a little down time to do nothing. And I need to squeeze all of that into a narrow 9 week time frame. But I am a mom and this is what we do best, right?
So for the past 2 weeks, I have been feverishly planning which days he can go here or there and when this camp starts and that one ends. I never pictured myself trying to plan ideal planting times around kid activities but here I am. I have slotted in flashcards and workbooks for short times here or there. We read to him every single day and will sneak in some educational play where we can (think writing numbers with chalk in the driveway).
My husband has scheduled the time off he needs to allow us to do all of the little day trips we have planned. I have even put a reminder in my phone to plan a picnic for dinner a few times a month. And I can not forget to do the back-to-school uniform and supply shopping. Maybe I should put in another reminder for that.
With all of that done, excuse me while I enjoy the not-too-hot-yet spring sunshine, drink some iced tea and enjoy my lazy days of spring before the summer comes in and sparks a whirlwind of activity in the name of good parenting.