I never thought I would look forward to summers, especially in Texas. It's hot. It's hot. Oh, and did I mention it's hot. But now that I have a child in school who has to be at school everyday by 7:45 or mom faces the embarrassment of walking into the school office to fill out a tardy slip, I have finally reached the day where I appreciate the point of summer vacation. Yes, I'm sure the kids like having a break from school but let's face it MOM likes having a break from school...and activities...and strict schedules. You know the drill. So to celebrate, I made a list of the 8 (surprisingly, I couldn't swear off 10 things) things I'm not going to do for the next 2.5 months -
1. Set the alarm - Yes, I still have to work, so it's not like I'm totally on vacation. BUT my kids are still early risers, so if we get up at 7:15 instead of 6:45, we will all survive. In fact, hopefully we will do more than survive. It's amazing how much happier 30 minutes of extra sleep can make a 3 year old.
2. Be a drill sergeant in the morning - Oh, I hate this role. Every morning, I'm in constant motion getting breakfast on the table, giving kids time warnings, getting tooth brushes prepared, brushing hair, giving more time warnings, cleaning syrup out of hair, giving one more time warning....all before we hurriedly hop in the car with quick kisses and I love yous...mostly in hopes that they forgive me for being a drill sergeant every morning.
3. Be at every practice or class - For the most part, we don't do lots of activities during the summer. But my daughter wanted to take gymnastics this summer, and our son is taking swimming lessons. During the school year, I'm a stickler for going to every practice or class and being on time. I feel like it's a commitment the child made, and they need to keep it unless they are sick or it's a special circumstance. But you know what? If we don't make to everything this summer, I just don't care. Wasting my money hurts a bit, but the freedom it allows us more than makes up for it.
4. Making lunches that embody health everyday - My son goes to Montessori school, so I can only slide on his lunch a little or it's frowned upon. And I hate to be frowned upon. But my daughter's summer camp won't give a flying flip. So if Lunchables (which she loves) go to camp this summer, we will all survive.
5. Live by our routine and schedule everyday - This is a tough one, because kids behave better when they have routine and schedule. Our children (a toddler and a child with anxiety) definitely behave better with a routine, so often, we live by the same schedule for purely selfish motives. We don't want to deal with tantrums and arguments. But I will be the first to admit that mom and dad get woefully tired of living in Ground Hog Day. We want to say, "Screw it. Let's go get ice cream for dinner." Well, we are going to do a lot more of that this summer!
6. Check school folders - Okay. This is a given. Kids don't have school folders and homework during the summer, but I just wanted to highlight and celebrate that it's one less thing mom has to do everyday. Woohoo!
7. Do the same stuff over and over again - Refer to my comment about Ground Hog Day above. We are usually so tired from the week that we tend to do the same things over and over again on the weekend. This summer we are going to new restaurants (ones that don't have play grounds) and new places. There may not be napping every weekend, but my 3 year old will live.
8. Read the news - Okay, I may not swear it off completely. But let's face it, almost everything in the news is sad, scary, or useless. And in an era where the biggest news cycle centers around Donald Trump, I think my happiness could be at least 5% happier everyday by not knowing what's going on in the world. I'll take that 5% for the summer.
So that's my plan, and I'm sticking to it. Here's to enjoying a more carefree few months! Hope you enjoy your summer, too.
No comments:
Post a Comment