Goodbye School, Hello Summer
School is finally reaching it's end for the year. Oh what a bittersweet time this is! It's such a special season for parents as we get these few months of quality time with our kiddos. The time to sleep in and stay in jammies all day. The extra giggles we get to listen to and just a little bit of extra time watching them grow up into their unique personalties. Although we absolutely love our extra time with them, we have to admit, summer break is tough!
The first year my oldest went to school all I could think about was missing her. I wondered what she was doing all day and how she was handling everything without me. Was she making friends? Was she being respectful and doing what she was told? Was she enjoying herself? She's so sweet and fun to be around, I couldn't understand why moms were fearful of summer break. It wasn't until my oldest finished her first year of school that I figured it all out, the reason moms get a little stressed when summer starts to creep up on them.
We were only hours into our first day of summer when it began. Those dreaded words were spoken "mom, I'm bored!" It's a real thing, and it's no joke! Think about it. All school year long our kids have been occupied from 8:00am to 3:00pm with science experiments, writing tasks, running laps around the gym, singing Disney songs in choir, or solving math problems. When the school day is over, they come home to a backpack full of homework. By the time they are done, dinner is almost ready and they are lethargic and are eager to relax. They have spent their day hopping from one thing to another with only 5 minute breaks in between. This busy rhythm becomes their new norm...until summer arrives.
Schedules are flipped upside down. Kids now have hours upon hours of freedom and they become overwhelmed with what to do all day. As moms, we sure do try our best to keep them occupied with fun activities. We prepare endless art projects, take them out on library trips to check out new books, walk them to parks near and far, or set up outdoor water games in the backyard. No matter how many fun activities we have planned for our kids though, we still end up hearing that whine of boredom. We all fool ourselves into thinking we can beat it too. We write up those 100 things to do in summer lists. We plan out daily schedules. We have stocked up on everything we think we could possibly need or want.
Every year, we think we are gonna beat it, telling ourselves we are fully prepared to keep them busy. But no, no matter how much we have planned, they will still be bored at some point throughout the day. Summer is exhausting! You know what we really need to stock up on? Coffee and wine. Or how about we make a "happy mommy" list? We can add things like no asking for things till mommy's first cup of coffee is done. If you wake up before mommy does, you can pour yourself a bowl of cereal. How about every time you utter the word "bored", you give mommy a bite of your dessert?
I think I'm on to something here! Okay, okay, even though the summer is completely chaotic, it sure is special to have them home! I guess we need to embrace the boredom and be grateful for those cute and whiny little boogers. After all, we did choose this crazy, messy, and wonderfully chaotic life of motherhood.
Cheers to time slowing down and savoring all the good moments! Embracing the bad with all of the good, because there is so much good!
