The weather here has been really nice lately. The kids at school are definitely ready for vacation. And ditto that for the teachers! Has me dreaming of lazy summer days....
What is your perfect summer day? I would sleep in and then head to the pool. After the pool, we usually stop and get the kids ice cream and I get a vanilla cherry Dr. Pepper. Then we head home, take showers, grill dinner, and just relax. We're lucky that our kids don't need a lot of "entertainment" to be happy. So they are thrilled to hang out at the house.
Your perfect summer day sounds wonderful! :) I think for me it would be arising early to enjoy some iced coffee out on the front porch...getting to work on the garden before the heat of the day...spending some time reading in the hammock under the shade of the big maple tree out back...heading out to the Lake to swim in our favorite, "secret" spot in the backwaters...dinner on the grill...catching a concert in one of the local parks...& stopping by an ice cream shoppe for a treat. I, too, am grateful our children are happy to spend their summer days enjoying good, old-fashioned summertime fun...reading in the hammock, running around with neighborhood friends, climbing trees, building forts, riding bikes, having water balloon or squirt gun battles, making artistic masterpieces with sidewalk chalk, etc.
ReplyDeleteWe are homebodies too, and my son is very easy to entertain. My perfect summer day would be temperatures in the high 70s with tolerable humidity. We would get up around 8 am, and head out for a neighborhood walk around 9:30 while it's still cool. Then we would come home and hang out on the front porch swing for a couple of hours, my husband and I reading and visiting while my son plays. Then we would have a picnic lunch in the backyard. My husband and I would divide up the afternoon, each having some one-on-one time with our son and each having some time to ourselves. Then we would drop off my son at my mother's for another sleepover (his first one this weekend was a huge success!) and we would go out to dinner at a restaurant with riverfront dining, followed by a night at home by ourselves.
ReplyDeleteOur summers are not significantly different than the rest of the year. My husband and I both work during the week and so our girls spend their time at summer day camps. They love it but I wish things could be different.
ReplyDeleteSomeday your girls will realize how hard you & your husband worked to provide for them & to make sure their summers were safe & enjoyable.
DeleteI totally agree! You are making a huge sacrifice to provide for your family. And honestly, in my area even a lot of the stay-at-home moms send their kids to daycamp. In fact, it makes it hard on those of us who don't, because it takes so much effort to find people who are available for playdates (which my son desperately needs, being an only child). There are some great camps out there, and I would probably send my son to them on occasion except that his allergies and asthma make it very hard for me to feel comfortable leaving him places. Also, that perfect summer day that I described? Very unlikely that it will happen the way I envision it. My husband and I work opposite schedules, and Sunday is the only day off that we both have together, so days like that don't happen too often. But it's fun to dream!
DeleteThank you both for your compassionate replies! You are very sweet. :)
DeleteI'm not kidding when I say my girls love summer camp. And why not -- the kinds of camps they get to take make me want to join them! Hula hoop camp. Fiber arts camp. Web design, fort building, fairies and dragons, cooking, painting, and ukulele camps. Just to name a few!!
But then I make things hard on myself by comparing our lives with my childhood -- so different in so many ways, comparisons are probably pointless. I spent every summer at home playing with the other kids on the block, riding my bike, jumping rope, etc. etc. The thing is, I remember relaxed but BORING summers; my girls will remember busy but FUN summers. Is one better than the other? Maybe not.
I know exactly what you mean, Anne! My childhood summers were a lot like what you described. Both versions have their advantages and drawbacks. A happy medium would be ideal, but that is so much easier said than done.
DeleteAnne,
DeleteThose sound like some really cool & interesting camps...I don't blame you for wanting to join them! :) Although we don't do a lot of camps (too expensive for 6 children), there are some local camps which sound neat that I wish our children could participate in. There are certainly more camp opportunities now than when I was young. I only recall Boy/Girl Scout Camps or 4-H Camps. Kids will benefit from learning to manage both times of busy-ness & times of boredom.