summer was easy when i was little...
school let out and for three months i ran around the neighborhood with the other kids...there were day trips to the reservoir, longer trips camping, and even longer trips up north to visit friends...
the days had a nice rhythm about them, and i don't remember really ever being "bored"...although, at some point as a kid, i started to make lists each summer detailing what i wanted to accomplish each day...even then i probably needed the reassurance of routine and the idea i was making good use of my time...
one year as i was reaching those dreaded middle school years i decided that i needed to clean up my act...act my age...my list only had two items...
1. wear clean underwear every day
2. don't skin my knees
wow, with such lofty goals it's a wonder i haven't gone farther in life...
now that i'm a parent, summer isn't quite as easy...
sure, what do kids really need but the sunshine, a popsicle, maybe a little water to dash about in?...
but really, in this household summer represents days without routine...and no routine is no good...forget the big guy upstairs, routine is *my* co-pilot...every day we have the same time and routine regarding school, rest-time, bedtime, t.v. time...and it works...for the most part...
but summer?...for some reason when the sun is shining and the heat is rising my brain goes wonky and i forget that there is only a certain amount of t.v. allowed, i don't mind if rest time starts a little later, ends a little earlier, popsicles for breakfast? SURE! why not!...just kidding on the last one, but can i tell you how happy it would make wingman?
but some days the heat just makes me feel like i'm moving through jello...
it's time for a list...a list of goals and the idea there is something to be acomplished...to establish if not a routine, at least workable rhythm...and since i have long been in the habit of wearing clean underwear daily, and haven't skinned my knees in years, i need loftier and more concrete summer goals...
i have come up with the following...
1. no matter how much he whines and regardless of the half an hour it will buy me, wingman is NOT allowed a popsicle for breakfast...well, at least not every day...
2. find a way to patiently, once again break it to the duke that as "fun" as it sounds, i still don't know of a fourth of july parade our family can march in...bummer...
3. put long-lasting waterproof sunscreen on the boys every morning, and remember that with summer brings a need for them to bathe more than once a week...at the very least toss them a washcloth once or twice a week when they're in the sprinkler...
4. it is perfectly acceptable to believe that by adding strawberries to margaritas i can then count each one i drink as a serving of fruit...(actually, a good sound policy in any season)
5. resist the urge to look in the mirror after squeezing into my bathing suit...it's a huge waste of time when a) i already know what's back there and b) there isn't anything i can do about it now as i started working out about three years too late for "swimsuit season"...
6. continue to hope that the duke won't beg me for a mesh tank top again this year...
7. convince wingman that he won't fall in the toilet if he actually decides to ditch the diapers and start to potty train...failing that, teach him to pee in the yard...
8. stock up on bandaids for skinned boybarian knees...
9. make sure the duke wears clean underwear every day...
happy summer solstice!
x.
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