There was a time in my life when I lived for summer vacation, and yesterday was considered one of those times, and tomorrow very may well fall into that category as well.
But not today.
Today, I wondered how many days were left before the kids went back to school. Today, I hoped for a daily routine that didn’t include me needing to entertain them while simultaneously cleaning up messes that I didn’t make – but also had a hand in because entertaining kids can be messy.
Because summertime is the season of sidewalk chalk and sprinklers, and when you mix those two things together, it really isn’t good for anybody.
Summertime is also the season for dirt and exploring in it, and it really isn’t the season for shoes because who has time or energy to find shoes when they’re just going to be taken off one shoe at a time at different ends of the house anyway?
Yesterday, my husband who doubles as kitchen floor mopper extraordinaire, made a joke that he thought was funny, and it would have been more funny if it wasn’t true.
“Our kids are the type who you need to ask to put their shoes ON when they enter the house,” was what he said in response to the dirt the kids track inside every single day – with their bare feet.
Yes, I have stooped to a new low where my four youngest kids look much like our ancestral cave people, whereas the older five have learned how to groom themselves quite nicely and wear shoes outside, and for the most part, leave said shoes on the porch so as to not track dirt in.
As you can see, I am typing like a mom who is functioning on very little sleep. I dare you to attempt to trace this part of the article in progress back to the original prose.
Perhaps my loss in brain function occurred last night when I volunteered as tribute to sleep inside the tent we pitched in the back yard with the four younger cave children – one of whom jumped at every single sound he heard, and another who kept kicking his sleeping bag off and then complained about being cold.
And, now it’s all coming back to me … because today.
Today was not a good day.
Today, I woke up with a trying-to-entertain-all-the-kids hangover. Today, I just wanted to be left alone because yesterday was a good day, and kids don’t do very well with riding the highs from the day before.
They want more fun.
More days like yesterday.
But, I am too old, and to date, I have had 1,346 days of summer vacation since my oldest started school, and that’s a lot of days to be at my A game. Believe me, I have tried to be the best summer mom ever, and I have done it well most days, but not today.
So, here’s to tomorrow, and 47 more tomorrow’s to get summer right.
Here, here.
