Summer Lovin' Had Me a Blast or Hold the Sunscreen

It is the last day of summer – well the last day of summer break. I don’t think anyone is excited to go back, which is funny because I never left – I worked all summer long. But I digress….the KIDS are going back and we all know, that’s really all that matters because they are all little suns that we simply orbit, tending to every need and making sure there’s always a clean swimsuit available. But I won’t dispute that there really is something about summer break that feels magical. There is a certain attitude of laissez faire – where late nights watching fireflies and movies and eating junk food is acceptable. It’s a 3 month long vacation mentality and it is coming to a close. Sigh.

Or is it? Do we really have to give up our summer attitude? What if we treat every day like summer – with that sense of fun and excitement? Do we have to give up impromptu trips to the park and picnics because we have to be in school all day? Heck, I was at work all day and still celebrated summer.  I feel like the Grinch when he realizes that Christmas isn’t about the wrappings and presents but about the feeling you have in your heart. My summer heart just grew three sizes. Now I’m not talking about going all Pintrest on you or skipping Halloween or Thanksgiving (I am talking about skipping May Day though – seriously. That day is crap.) But maybe instead of acting all “homework and busy schedules” we start looking for those pockets of time for fun. Maybe you already do this. And if so, I tip my cute summer hat to you and say “Good for you – you should have blogged about this sooner!”

Now I’m not telling you to go crazy and not make up those meals in advance (it’s the only way to survive the jungle that is sports/music/homework/friends) or ignore the spelling words. But this year while I’m juggling how much homework there is, getting to sports practice, and washing uniforms in time, I’m going to try to keep the summer spirit in my heart. I’m going to try to stop and enjoy the small moments and have spontaneous unstructured fun when we’ve got a chance. 

Don’t get me wrong – I love fall. I really do and my Type A personality thrives on crazy – honestly, unstructured time makes me a bit tweaky. I want to know what homework is due, I love watching all the sports, I enjoy having a set schedule that by the end of the day makes me feel accomplished for managing. So a summer attitude is really a challenge for me – even in the summer. It requires me to look for that carefree moment that I usually try to avoid, to not constantly have a set serious agenda for every day. I’m going to admit, I did keep a list of fun things we could do so I had something to fall back on if we had a free moment. But they were fun things like farmer’s markets, parks, events. So I’m going to make one for the fall so I can remember to sneak in the fun stuff with the work. Who said summer ends in August? It’s only begun.