Summer Survival Strategy

This year in anticipation of summer I decided to establish a game plan with a few accessories to facilitate our summer fun. As wonderful as the school year was, I was really looking forward to some free time with my kids and I wanted it to go well. Here is my "guide book" for the month of June:

Schedule: Looking forward to free time does not equate to relishing havoc, so I thought long and hard about how to enjoy our freedom without lapsing into utter lawlessness. Mimicking the design of the homeschool curriculum my amazing friend created, we opened the "Princess Academy" on the first day of vacation. We have a motto, a logo, some objectives, and a general guideline that I loosely refer to as a "schedule." It involves doing some chores, spending some time working on school skills and piano, and intermittent reminders about long-standing, tried and true but still evasive virtues, such as using manners, (ie. not driving your mother insane with constant bickering). We are not infallible with our daily pursuits of harmony and order, but even loose structure holds life together better than no structure at all. Besides, the girls like the sparkly gem stickers they get to use to adorn their crown shaped chore charts.

School Camps: I know, did I not just say I was looking forward to being done with school??? And yet, the school offers some really fun summer programs that the girls were super excited about so I consented to them choosing one program each, so long as they were in the same week and at the same time as each other. Then the school called to notify me that certain classes hadn't had enough enrollment and the schedule was being altered due to cancellations and . . .What? How did we end up with three weeks of activities at school when school just barely ended? Despite the jolt to my careful planning, the school camps worked out great and the girls loved them. Madeleine basked in dance and science while Beth flourished in art and private tutoring with her beloved Kindergarten teacher. Mary had some "Mom Adventures," like visits to the library and playing with the displays at Lakeshore Learning while we waited for the sisters at school. I was a little surprised at how glad the girls were to simply be in school. All three were eager to mosey up and down the hallways, peaking in classrooms to seek out any teachers and friends who might be hanging around that day. They gave me a tour of every nook and cranny so familiar to them now, and enjoyed the playground as if they were reuniting with an old friend. I found it a pleasure to watch them, so at ease and confident in their school environment. Even I had to acknowledge there was something almost rebelliously liberating about being at school without wearing a uniform:)

Swimming Lessons: All three of our girls love the water and can hardly be restrained from splishing and splashing every chance they get. Really. Once I ordered them to sit at the side of the pool while I went to change and came back to find them all immersed neck deep, stretched out full body length with a few fingers grasping the wall edge. They claimed they were still obeying given that they were still touching "the side." Anyway, thanks to the recommendation of a friend we found a wonderful teacher who offers private lessons in her own, indoor swimming pool. Initially I considered it somewhat inconvenient to go over to her house when we have a pool right here in our neighborhood, but when the uncommonly persistent thunderstorms of June crashed and boomed outside I took delight in being warm and content while swimming indoors. Really, if it weren't for school camps and swimming lessons, what else would we have done in 3 straight weeks of stormy, cloudy weather?

Summer Bags: Given that our scheduling didn't work out according to my original specifications I had to create some impromptu coping mechanisms for the amount of time we were going to spend in the car and waiting for siblings. So, the school-year book bags were replaced with "summer bags," each one of it's owners choosing, and filled each morning with the necessities of day as dictated by the scheduled activities. Book to read while we wait for sister? Check. Swim suit since we're going directly to swimming lessons after school camp? Check. Well planned, carefully packed nutritious lunch? Check - or not check. We did have more than a few quality drive-thru meals during those three weeks, but hey, a girl has got to eat and a mom has got to do what a mom has got to do. Thank goodness for Kneader's, the drive-thru that dishes out a healthier option for lunch on the run.

Sleep: We don't seem to be getting any! Glad to be free of our early mornings and evening time constraints imposed by the school year schedule, I anticipated early bedtimes and later mornings. To my chagrin, the girls are up until 10 or 11 every night regardless of our 9:00 bedtime and, with the exception of Madeleine, who is exhibiting some pre-teen like characteristics including sleeping in, they don't sleep longer than 7:30. Just when I was becoming convinced that there was something chemically imbalanced in our children my friends nonchalantly assured me that it was "just summer." I suppose if the sun doesn't go to bed until 10 kids won't either. Oh well. The flexibility is nice at least, and it hasn't been hard to convince me to give up a planned wake-up time and just stay in bed until everyone is awake!

Magnifying Glasses: Although this unfortunately does not follow my alliteration it warrants mention just the same. On a whim I purchased some plastic magnifying glasses which kept a constant home in the bottom of the girls "summer bags." Then, as they waited for their turn for swimming lessons or whatever else, they were set loose with their magnifying glasses to explore. Insects, flower petals, even the sidewalk pavement held their interest under magnified examination. It just goes to show that even the most mundane appearance can prove extraordinary when given a closer look.

Slowing Down: Now June is over and we're glad to settle into slower, sunnier days. Well, sunnier yes, slower, maybe not. Despite being free from as many predetermined obligations the days fill up and fly by so quickly! It's all in fun though. We've spent more time with family, more time by the pool, more time on play dates. Sigh. The time is going so fast but I'm trying not wish for more time but just enjoy the summer time.

Did You Know?

Did you know that those silver foil bags that say "Will Keep Your Ice Cream Frosty and Frozen for Hours and Hours and Hours!" really won't and that if you buy your ice cream on the way to pick up your daughter from summer camp at school and then go pick up your other daughter, make a quick stop to drop off a signature, and then rush home to a birthday party the ice cream will all be melted by the time you serve it even though you kept it in the foil bag which was tightly closed? I didn't . . . but I do now. 

The kids ate the ice cream anyway, even though it was more like a milkshake in a bowl, and the party turned out great. 

Congratulations!

Tonight I am thinking about the many different and wonderful women that I'm privileged to know and for many reasons altogether but for no reason in particular, I feel like celebrating. Celebrating you, and congratulating you for victories great and small. Those of you who have watched your children graduate, from pre-school up through high school, and those who have progressed in school themselves. Those of you who have spent hours cheering at baseball games and sporting events, and have hours yet to go before the season ends. There are those who have launched their own businesses, and others who have made things work in an economy that works against them. Mothers who have celebrated birthdays and gotcha' days for babies they yearned to have in their families, and mothers who are watching their babies marry and start families of their own. Some have coached their children through their battles and others have had their own battles to fight. Some have received miracles as answers to prayer, and others have found faith when they didn't receive the miracles they prayed for.  

As the pressures of the school year fade away and summer days of family time and freedom stretch ahead I know I'm feeling a bit lighter, as though I've crossed a finish line and can enjoy a minute to catch my breath. Perhaps that's what brought on this congratulatory mood, but whatever the reason, I mean it. Good job! 

I've heard it said that the essence of womanhood is guilt. Be that as it may, don't feel guilty by taking some credit here. Just for a minute, consider the numerous seemingly insignificant tasks you accomplish each day and marvel with me at the mountains that you've climbed by waking up each day and putting two feet on the floor. Even with all it's 15 letters "congratulations" isn't a big enough word to sum up the extent of what you do, but what word is? At this point I am oddly reminded of author Kate Dicamillo's little mouse Desperaux and his enchantment with the Princess Pea. In a fleeting moment as he grasps at the chance to express the abundance of admiration filling his heart he whispers, "I honor you." Maybe it's not one long word, but those three simple words I need right now. As I think of all of you my outlook is buoyed up. I am blessed by your examples. I am encouraged by your kindness. I am strengthened by your friendship. I honor you and the efforts you make daily to lead, love, and progress. In my mind THAT is the essence of womanhood and I rejoice to know women who live it, so here's to you ladies. Congratulations on a job well done.