Summer is my favorite season. It is not just the hot days, toes in sand afternoons and time at the town pool with our local pals that I love--it is that there is a certain release from obligation that gives way to time to prepare for whatever will come next in September. There are still deadlines and swim team practices and housework in the summer, but the long, hot days and the laughing, noisy kids home from school (and off Zooms) change the entire dynamic.
Summer is an open house; whereas Fall, Winter and Spring are events with seating charts and RSVPs.
Right now, through, we are in still in that Spring spot. For me, May is always a hard month and after I get through May 17 (which is the day Lily had her first brain surgery), the lift of May begins to feel less; but then the lift of being a parent at the end of the sports/school/dance year becomes more, as does the lift of moving from spring to summer.
Everything is ending, schedules are insane, plans feel impossible to make, there are yearbook pages to finish and teacher gifts to secure and assignments to turn in. I also like to use the next four weeks to attend to power work--writing and planning as much as possible so the rest of June, July and August can be less intense and more turnkey. (Ensuring, I can work poolside at Crystal Lake while my kiddos splash around and check in for ice cream money.)
However, this new lift is the best blessing in the world. My kids are finishing 9th, 6th and 2nd. They somehow seemed to learn things (and their teachers managed to teach things!) in spite of the pandemic. They played so many sports, danced so many hours and learned so much about the capabilities of their minds and bodies. Our house is in shambles--but we have this house to work on and live in and love. I love my work. I planned a vacation. And I've written here for 143 days.
In these last few weeks of the school year, it is easy to feel like I just want to reach the finish line and jump right into summer. I don't want to miss this rest of May and June, though. I think summer is best enjoyed once the kids have their last day of school.
Then, we can lift-off together--in boredom and laughter and sunburn and popsicles and early mornings and late nights. There is so much opportunity in summer! Days to explore near and far, old traditions to be followed and new ones to be made, midnight hot dogs. summer friends and weeks of swimming from sun up to sun down. It is just 2 and a half months of summer, but those 10-ish weeks feel like something bigger--they feel like a lift-off into whatever adventures are next for this crew of mine!
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