Enjoying what is left of our summer

Last night, I had this dream where it was my son’s first day at school. A friend and her son were hanging out with us on the day before and she was asking me if I had everything ready for the new school year. I was surprised this particular friend was in the dream, because our boys do not go to the same school. But anyway, we were just talking about being ready for tomorrow. Well, the next day, I overslept and was lagging behind on getting my son ready to go, so he ended up being late for school.

I woke up from this dream confused as to why I even had it in the first place. I wanted to cry out, “FOR CRYING OUT LOUD, IT’S STILL SUMMER!”

My kids don’t go back to school until September. (For one of my sisters in California, her kids go back August 1st.) So we are still pretty much enjoying as much of our summer funtime and being lazy and doing other things that we can. We are NOT focused on the whole “back to school” thing YET. We are still enjoying summer!

Yes, we do have a list of what the kids will need when they go back to school. Yes, we have been buying items on that list here and there. Yes, I DID enroll my daughter into her new school, and she did select the classes she wanted. Yes, we have penciled in the exact date we all switch back to the “school year schedule.”

But, for the most part, we are still enjoying our summer. We still eat whatever whenever we want to. We still stay up at odd hours of the night because the kids have no bedtime during the summer (except for when there are things planned for the next day – like tomorrow, I am taking the kids somewhere, and we have to leave before noon so we have to go to bed at a certain time tonight and not sleep in tomorrow!). We still do whatever the heck we want to with our days – or even nothing at all. Because it's summer vacation!

We are still enjoying that summer vacation. And that’s the plan for a couple more weeks. (Well, except for me. I’m switching back to the “school year schedule” on Monday and going back to the diet and exercise routines because of a couple of things I need to be ready for next year).

I have noticed some of my friends on Facebook talking about getting ready for back to school. (They probably need to, if school starts earlier for their kids.) I have certainly taken stock of what my kids need to be ready and, of course, I’ll be doing the whole “clothes inventory” ritual for their dressers and closets to see what clothing they need. But as for us, we are not freaking out about being ready for back to school. Not YET, anyway!

Maybe this dream was a reminder to be ready. (And of course I will, because I KNOW what we have to do and what will be expected of me! My son late for school on his first day back to school? Not on my watch!) Or maybe it was a reflection of somebody who has been judging me just because we have been so lax during the summer and not on some kind of rigid schedule. (If that is the case, screw them!) But whatever the case, I’m not going to let it send me into hysterics to be ready for when it’s time for the kids to go back to school. We WILL be ready, just in our own way and in our own time.

Summer Sundays

When I woke up this morning, one thought struck me: “Today is Sunday. Time to get ready for the Sunday routine.” Then I remembered something: It’s summer vacation. As of Tuesday, June 17th, both of my kids were out of school.

So that means that it’s time for a DIFFERENT Sunday routine!

All this time during the school year, the Sunday routine involved getting ready for another busy week of jumping in and out of my car, running the kids to and from school, babysitting, running errands and just taking care of things for that week (like, say, a doctor appointment). So, every Sunday, I’d make sure the kids had clean clothes to wear for school, that backpacks were in their proper locations, that there was enough money in lunch accounts, each child had everything ready to go for the next day, and that there was enough gas in the car for yet another driving spree. I also made sure the towels were washed, work clothes were clean and ready for wear, and that there were meals planned for Monday.

Now, though, I don’t have to worry about all of those things. Sure, I still need to wash all the towels and make sure work clothes are ready for Monday, but all that other stuff, especially the school stuff, is not too much of a priority anymore.

It’s SUMMER! We take each week one at a time and see what comes up.

This week, for example, Jesse goes to summer school, and Jennifer has plans to hang out with friends. I can pretty much figure out what will need to be done today to prepare for all of that. (Thank goodness no more rushing to the store before school to get Jesse a Lunchables for his lunches!) Laundry will need to be done and gas WILL need to be in my car, but aside from that, everything else is pretty much free and clear.

So basically I am asking myself, now that the kids are out of school, what AM I going to do with my Sundays?

I have been spending my weekend trying to get caught up on things. Reading and answering emails, reading other stuff, and going through my files to make sure everything is current. I also worked on the July budget plan and decided on some things I’ll need to take care of for next month. But as for today? I don’t know about anything new to implement for a new Sunday routine. I mean, I use my weekends to get caught up on stuff, work on major projects I don’t have time for during the week, try my hand at a different project I’ve been playing around with in my mind for some time, hang out on the Internet (Facebook and Pinterest), and just chill. And all of that sounds like good stuff to do on the weekends, but there still needs to be something different that I do just for Sundays. Saturday night is "movie night." Maybe we could start making Sundays a "movie night," too.

The summer Sundays need to be different than the school year Sundays. Now that the kids are out of school, I don’t have to worry about the “Sunday routine” anymore. In fact, I don’t even think there should be a “Sunday routine” anymore. There should just be a Sunday.

I have a “summer schedule” I created for the kids some time back and I am seriously thinking of putting it to use again. We already have been enjoying our “one week of laziness” after school let out, but after that’s all over with, I think getting back into a routine would be a good thing to do for the kids. And having said that, I think it would be a good idea to keep Sundays open for whatever we (or I) want to do with them. No rushing or worrying about being ready for Monday morning. I think that, just as Saturdays are meant to be “free days” and days we do pretty much whatever comes up, the summer Sundays should be the same way.

Three days of fun and friends

First, there was the sleepover. One of Jennifer's best friends got to spend the night at our house. Lots of fun, good food and antics all around.

That was the first day.

Next came our summer picnic. Yay! I viewed it as an "end-of-the-summer" picnic. We got together with good friends and two other of Jennifer's best friends showed up. More good times and good food. I also got to talk with my friend about certain things going on, as well as going over all the things needed for enrollment in the new school. (Her daughter is going to this school, as well.)

That was the second day.

And then, there was the playdate. Jennifer was invited over to a friend's house and she was there for almost 6 hours! She even got to have dinner with them. More fun and it seems, good food was had by all.

That was the third day.

Three days of good fun with her friends for my daughter. She's so lucky! She said the day of the picnic was the best day of her entire summer – because, not only after the picnic did one of her BFFs get to come to our house for a visit, but she also got to have takeout from her favorite restaurant for dinner. Oh, and we ended the day with a movie she enjoyed, as well.

It's rare we get such good days. The same goes for Jennifer. In her case, she had 3 straight days of fun with her friends. I hope those are memories that will last her a long time. A great way for her to end her summer.

And to think that we were almost millionaires

Every year, the Albertsons store has a “Sizzlin’ Summer Giveaway” game. Basically, you get game tickets with certain items at the store you buy and match the tickets to where they go on the game board available in stores. Prizes range from cash to automobiles to gift cards. The lowest cash amount to win is $2 and the highest is $1,000,000.

That’s right, one million dollars.

I played this game last summer and applied the tickets to the board as I got them from the store. We won $2,000 but, unfortunately, I lost the game board with the winning tickets before claiming the prize. So, no claiming the prize. Boo-hoo!

This year, I decided to give the game another go. However, I played it differently: I got the game board and just gathered a bunch of tickets, but this time I decided to wait before applying the tickets to their respective spots on the gameboard until the last minute.

Well, the “last minute” happens to be next week (on the 21^st, actually), so I decided to go ahead and start applying all the tickets to where they were supposed to go today. This, of course, took a LOOOONG time since we’d accumulated A LOT of tickets, but I kept at it. At one point, I got up from the table to help my son with something and I was drenched with sweat because I was so hot. I muttered “I hope we win an air conditioner” even though that isn’t one of the prizes. (Hey, a girl can dream!)

After I was done, I went over the entire game board to see if we’d won anything.

Guess what? We HADN’T!! Ugh! And I did all that work and sweated in that hot kitchen for NOTHING! Bleh.

I went over the prizes we ALMOST won, though. Almost as in, we were one ticket short. And here they are:

$10 cash

An Albertsons gift card worth $20

A $50 gift card from the Gift Card Mall

$100 grocery cookout

An Albertsons card worth $250

A $250 weekend getaway

A $500 REI gift card

And a cool one million dollars.

ARGH!! If only but for one more ticket!

Ah, well. Game over. Maybe we'll do better next year.

At least this year, I didn't lose anything.

A fair-ly good time

It’s been 6 years since we moved to Oregon but not once have we attended the annual Lane County Fair. That changed yesterday.

By the time we got to the fairgrounds late in the day, the parking lots were filled, so hubby had to drive around and around neighboring streets to find someplace to park. During all that driving, I noticed how some people were charging fairgoers $5 to park in their front yards. After some time of driving, I suggested we just come back the next day. But hubby was determined to find somewhere to park. We were already there and he wasn’t going to give up just because he couldn’t find a parking space. Eventually, his determination paid off and we managed to park in front of a house two streets away from the fairgrounds. I was grateful for the nice weather as we walked.

I was also grateful for our timing. We arrived at the fair at dusk and all the lights were starting to come on. It was very pretty. As the sky grew darker, and the lights became brighter, Jesse was really mesmerized by all of the lights and special effects. Many times his dad had a hard time getting his attention because he couldn’t take his eyes off all of the lights! (Jennifer told me the music was loud, too. She could hear it all the way from where we parked! I asked her what kind of music it was and she said it was “fair music.”)

Of course, the kids wanted to go on EVERYTHING, but because the tickets cost so much, we had to be choosy. I definitely wanted the kids to go on a carousel, but we couldn’t find one. This was Jesse’s very first fair visit, so hubby and I both knew we had to be especially certain he went on some good rides.

Before we got to the fair, I was anticipating the kids having fun on the rides. What I didn’t expect was freaking out when my little baby was placed inside of the first ride. My heart was pounding in my chest and I had to keep myself from running to his seat and pulling him out of there. I was standing there thinking, MY BABY!!! This particular ride was the kiddie version of the swings. (You know, those swings people spin around a pole in?) I kept telling myself that this was a ride for kids. He’d met the height requirement. And, most of all, Jennifer was in the seat with him. Surely she would grab him if he started to slip out. (And they did have a strap that went between the legs so kids couldn’t slip out.) So I just watched, and prayed, as the ride started up. Thankfully, it was not as fast as the adult version. And he was fine. Phew! But I put my foot down later in the evening when they wanted to go on the adult version of that swing ride. I kept saying, “I don’t want him on that ride!” Hubby wanted to go on, too. But even with him, I was NOT going to allow Jesse on that ride. He already was on the kiddie version and that was good enough. (Hubby saw how upset this made me so thankfully he agreed not to put Jesse on that ride.)

When we got to rides that Jennifer was big enough for but not Jesse, then either I or hubby took Jesse to a kiddie ride or hubby went with Jennifer and I took Jesse to another ride. At one point, hubby even suggested I go find a ride I wanted to go on but I said I didn’t want to go on any. That changed when I saw The Haunted Mansion ride. I went nuts and said, “I wanna go on THAT one!” We all ended up going on that ride. I rode with Jennifer and as we went through the ride, I worried it might be a bit much for Jesse (who was riding with his dad). After we all got off of the ride, Jesse huddled close to Jennifer and they started talking. I asked hubby if the ride had scared him and he said, “A little bit.” After Jesse was done talking to Jennifer, he looked at me and said, “That ride was a little bit scary.” (Later that night, he told me again the “monsters” on that ride scared him.)

We ate our dinner at the fair. Two bacon cheeseburgers, two orders of fries, two hot dogs and 4 soft drinks. It cost us $43! The whole fair experience was pricey and I decided that, for next year, we will start saving EARLY if we want to go to the fair again.

Another thing about fairs is how they rig the games so very few people win the prizes. That night, Jennifer was introduced to the term “carnie” and I told her horror stories of how carnies trick people out of their money by fixing the games. Hubby shrugged it all off and told Jennifer she could go ahead and play one of the games. She really wanted to win something but she couldn’t knock over the stack of blocks with the baseball she was given.

Another thing Jennifer wanted to do at the fair was go on the Ferris wheel with her dad. She did get to do that – but unfortunately Jesse was too small for it. So while they were on that, he went on the kiddie airplane ride. Every time I looked at the lit-up Ferris wheel at the fair, I was reminded of the short story I’d written last week that Jennifer’s request had inspired me to write.

Jennifer also got to have some cotton candy – and Jesse, too – but she wasn’t able to play certain other games she’d hoped to play or win a goldfish. (Well, there’s always next year. I promised myself that next year I will drop the whole “carnies are EBIL!” warning and just let her play the games.)

Soon we ran out of tickets – and money to buy more tickets – so we had to go home. We’d been at the fair for 3 hours and we all agreed we had fun. As we walked to the car, my feet hurt from all that walking and my legs were dead. I told Jennifer I had gotten my exercise for the day. It was A LOT of walking!

But it was a lot of fun, too. Jesse had his very first fair experience and Jennifer got to have some good memories of going on rides with her dad. I’m glad we finally went to the Lane County Fair and look forward to going again next year.

The summer she spent away

While Jennifer may be too young to go to summer camp this year, it seems like she has a “day camp” thing going on. I have noticed how, these days, she is rarely at home – she’s at her friend’s house. Or, friend’s houses. Instead of staying at home during the day, she’s hanging out with friends or with our neighbors.

On one hand, I’m happy she’s turned into such a sociable person. It’s good for her to interact with other people and build her social skills. But on the other hand, I worry. I worry she’ll forget the safety rules we have taught her, or be careless with her personal safety, and something bad might happen. And I worry that all this time she’s spending with her friends means less time with her family.

Still, maybe I shouldn’t complain on that last note. After all, it’s not like her “family time” is suffering. Just yesterday, she went to the park with her dad and little brother and they all played baseball. Then they went out for ice cream. That quality time with family is there.

But is it there enough?

I know, it’s summer. Kids should be allowed to be kids during the summer. They should be riding their bikes, hanging out with their friends and going swimming. They shouldn’t HAVE to spend more time at home or with family. They need to get out and enjoy this break from school. This break from schedules and routines. But quality time with family is just as important during the summer, too. I mean, after all, families go on vacations during the summer. Or check out county fairs and stuff like that. And I keep asking myself, are those two things balanced? Is she spending as much time with her family as she is with her friends?

I’m probably just being neurotic here. I should count my blessings. I’m glad my daughter has so many friends. I’m glad she is able to hang out with her friends and have fun with them. I'm glad she's not such a couch potato during her summer vacation. I’m glad she is safely returning home from her friend’s houses every day – so far.

Maybe she just really needs this time away from family. She needs a break from her brother driving her crazy or her mother suggesting she do just one more page of math problems in her math workbook or her father giving her one job around the house or another. She needs to create some happy summer memories with her friends. Maybe she just needs this.

But we need that family time, too.

I suppose instead of stressing out that she isn’t getting enough of that family time, I should just wing it. Allow her to continue hanging out with her friends so much and grab that family time that includes our daughter whenever it pops up. Summertime is no time for stress, after all. It’s a time for relaxation and going with the flow. So we’ll go with the flow and just enjoy summer.

Some unexpected me time

For the summer, my son Jesse is taking preschool twice a week. I have him there full-time instead of part-time, because I want to “gel into” the full-time schedule since that is what he is going to be signed up for in the fall. Jennifer is not taking summer school this year, but today I had an unexpected surprise: She got to stay at Jesse’s school today.

I was surprised and a little nervous at first. I didn’t know how Jen would take to this “school setting” during what is supposed to be her summer vacation. But, it was only one day out of the week. And she seemed so eager to be there. So I just let that worry go and decided to wait and see how it turned out.

At the same time, I was taken off guard. I’m so used to having at least ONE child home with me every day this summer. Now they were BOTH at summer school!

The shock hit me so much, I actually had to stop walking on my way into the grocery store as I realized ... my children weren’t there.

They were in summer school.

Both of them.

I was ... I was ... (gasp!) ALONE!

I was FREEEE!!!!

Okay, seriously, though. I actually had a hard time accepting this. I kept looking around like they were missing, or something, and I had to find them. It was such a big grocery store, you know. What if they wandered too far? What if a stranger kidnapped them? What if they had wandered out of the store???

But, wait. I had to remind myself. Both kids were in summer school. I did not have one child at home with her father. I did not have one child missing at the store. They were at school. Summer school. Both of them.

Wooooow.

And after the shock faded, I started to wonder: What am I going to do with myself??

Well, the OBVIOUS answer is ... WRITE! Write like the wind!

I had already written two articles earlier in the morning, while the children slept. Maybe I’ll write some more!

And ... maybe watch a movie? Read a book? Run some errands?

Instead of making plans, though, I just took the day as it came. Yes, I did write. I worked on the charity ebook. But I also read a crapload of articles on the Internet. Hung out on Facebook. Answered a bunch of emails collecting dust in my inbox. And sent my articles off to an E-zine.

I also FINALLY organized Jesse’s closet, cleaned the bedrooms and did some assorted housekeeping. Took some time to read, sure. The newspaper. ( I read a book AFTER the kids came home. And Jennifer told me she had a great time. Phew!) And I also took care of some financial business over the phone.

In other words, I got quite a bit of stuff done. And even after the kids came home, I got MORE stuff done. Did some book promo and sent off a book review.

The truth is, I can still be productive whether or not the kids are at home. True, I can be MORE productive when they are at school or at a friend’s house. (I just can’t clean Jesse’s room when he is home, though. Because he makes a whole ‘nother toy mess in an area I JUST tidied up right after I tidy it up.) Still, it was nice to get things done without distraction today. Or without worrying about the kids. It was nice.

I hope Jen will be up to visiting the preschool again next week. And I also hope the teacher is ok with that being a “Thursday thing.”

Lazy days of summer too lazy for me

One thing I can't stand is laziness. Maybe it was being raised by a mother constantly speaking out against laziness and pushing my sisters and I to "get our butts moving" and always assigning chores or something or other (though she often let me off on the chore thing when she saw I was writing -- she always encouraged the writing). My mother was raised in a very UNlazy way. Growing up, she always had to help out, do chores and help take care of siblings. My grandfather instilled a very strong work ethic in his children, and my mother continued to maintain that work ethic even into her late adulthood years. So, of course, she passed this down to her own children, though it seemed like the girls were doing more chores than the boys. Nevertheless, one thing my mother's efforts did to make sure we did not turn out to be slobs is that it has made me feel the same way now, with my own children. I don't want them to be lazy.

But I went against this desire recently, when I made a deal with my daughter, age 8 1/2, that she could enjoy the first month of her summer vacation with some of the more stricter rules tossed out the window. While she has enjoyed not having a bedtime, sleeping in until noon on some days, playing computer games and watching TV at night and not having to clean her room so much, it has started to eat away at me. I, too, decided to enjoy some laziness this first month, but I have only been able to take that so far.

For example, I have not cut back on the cleaning. Sure, I still take it easy on weekends, but I can't stand to see dishes in the sink or laundry piling up. So I've definitely stuck with those responsibilities. I have, however, slept in, did not exercise so much (hardly at all), ate lots of junk food and just cut back on how much work I do. In other words, I've slowed down. That is starting to get to me, however, and I'm eager to get back into action and stick to my schedule. I enjoy waking up early, anyway. It's fun waking up with the day, not to mention a beautiful sight watching the sun come up.

But another thing about this bothering me is seeing how very lazy my child can be -- and just because she can get away with it! She has definitely become a couch potato and sleeping in. By nature, she's a night owl, and so she has regressed to that during this "one month break" from rules and routines. But just as I have adapted in saying goodbye to my night owl ways, I have explained to her that, because of school, she will have to get used to being a morning person, as well. For now, I let her be a night owl, even if I'm sleepily stumbling around the house WAITING for her to go to sleep or making sure she stays in her room so I can get into bed. (She has not exactly stuck to that rule, unfortunately, and this has meant dealing with one angry father who has come home to find her watching TV or playing a computer game at 2 a.m.) I don't like laziness and watching how very lazy my child can be has been pretty frustrating. Yet I remind myself of our agreement and keep counting the days when all that will change. She can have her fun for now, because it won't last.

While it has been hard for me to "enjoy" this break from the schedule and busyness, especially when, on some days, I'm still in my jammies at noon, it has made me stop and think about just how reliant we are on being so busy so much of the time and rushing through life without stopping for rest. I have literally had to force myself to slow down, lie around, just...THINK! Just take it easy. Enjoy this warm weather and bask in the sunshine. Take time to reflect on things. Not worry about the dishes in the sink or the toys on the living room floor. Not feel pressured about making EVERY SQUARE INCH of the house look perfect. Just...relaxing and enjoying this time of the year when vacation time is allowed for so many. If anything, summertime is prime time to enjoy togetherness with family, and that's what I have been doing with my kids. Just spending time with them.

As this "month of laziness" is coming to a close, I'm beginning to reflect on the lessons it has taught me and appreciate the memories I've created with my kids. I think we'll keep this a tradition for every summer, because it allows us to just take a break from life's craziness and stop to enjoy and nurture the bond we share with each other. If anything, it allows us to refresh ourselves and appreciate what staying busy and having routines can do for us and for life in general. Also, I think it's a good idea to do this, because it balances things out. If we're always busy, always sticking to a schedule, then that's a recipe for some serious burnout. So a month "off" from that once a year helps to avoid that stress and burnout. Also, it gives us something to look forward to, because then we'll have more flexibility to do other things. Things that are not so busy.

And as much as it has eaten away at me, I'm grateful I made the decision to do this. Now I'm even more grateful that, pretty soon, it will be time to get back into the swing of things.

Summer vacation starters

Yesterday was the last day of school. Yay! It was also a day we had a baseball game. Unfortunately, we couldn't get to the game. I could not find Jennifer's baseball stuff! It's so weird; her baseball stuff keeps disappearing. I felt stupid not taking her to the game just because we couldn't find her stuff, but I didn't want her to show up without it, either. Believe me, I turned the house upside down trying to find it. I even kept asking Jen where she had her stuff last but she couldn't remember. (Oh, that helps!) What was even more frustrating is that she would not help me look for it after she got home from school. So I just pretty much gave up the search. I guess it wasn't that important to her! Wasn't happy she missed a game, but...there it was.

Also yesterday, I had a bit of a scare. I had the baby with me while running errands and managed to get to the bus stop in time to pick Jennifer up. We sat there for a while and I kept myself occupied with reading the EW. Jesse kept himself occupied by keeping himself occupied. Haha. Anyway, we just sat there waiting for the bus to get there, and it ended up being about 5 minutes late. I watched the doors of that school bus open and children file out, keeping my eyes peeled for Jennifer. One child after another came off that bus and I kept expecting Jennifer to appear. But, she didn't. And the bus doors closed and the bus drove away! My heart froze. I scanned the children again, thinking maybe I missed her. But, she wasn't there! I asked a little girl who knew Jennifer if she had been on the bus and she told me no. ACK! I raced home, my heart pounding in my chest and feeling very scared. Remnants of the story of the disappearance of the Portland boy, Kyron Horman, ran through my mind, mainly because it wasn't discovered he was missing until the stepmother was at the bus stop to pick him up and he never appeared. So I got home, logged on to the computer and emailed hubby, asking him if he'd picked Jennifer up while he was out meeting with his friend. I was barely able to breathe at this point, my hands practically shaking. Finally, he replied that, yes, he did have Jennifer with him. THANK GOD! I was so scared something had happened to her. I politely thanked him for telling me (NOW!), though I was tempted to scream at him, "Don't DO that!" Sheesh. I'm just glad she was okay. I hugged her extra hard when he later brought her home. Now I DEFINITELY need to get a new phone, just so we can text each other faster and know where everybody is at!

Since it's now officially summer vacation, I have been pondering just how to plan it all out. We're DEFINITELY going to have some mornings of sleeping in -- though, in order for me to have time to work on my books, I'll still be getting up early. Except for today. I slept in today. Maybe it was until 6:30, but, hey! That still counts as "sleeping in" for me! It's later than 5 or 5:30, anyway. The kids slept in this morning, too. But we won't be sleeping in ALL summer! No, sir! Just the first week. I'm planning to have Jennifer back on her "summer schedule" just so she won't veg out in front of the computer or TV all summer. I know it's important for children to have structure.

I was reading the papers sent home from Jen's school and comments her teacher made. Her teacher had, in fact, expressed her hope that Jennifer will continue to read books this summer. Well, that's not going to be hard; she DOES love to read! But, I thought, it would be nice if her teacher would be able to see just what kind of progress Jennifer makes with her reading during summer vacation. Eventually, I came up with an idea: Create a reading chart! This way, we could keep track of all the books she reads over the summer and we can show it to her teacher when school starts again. Also, I think maybe a reward system would be a nifty feature for that reading chart. Say, after she reads 20 books, she gets a reward. We have decided that her first reward will be a visit to the Splash! water park. Other rewards could be an ice cream outing, a new book, a new toy, a picnic, etc.

I think this "reading challenge" will be good for her because I have growing concerns about her addiction to computer games and TV. Yes, yes, I know I am partly to blame for that. It is just so hard for me to curb that addiction. I certainly DO NOT want her to end up like her father, spending hours on the computer every day. So I know I need to step in and DO SOMETHING about that. The reading challenge is just one thing I can do. Another is to set a time limit on how much computer time and TV time she can have. I'll need to put my thinking cap on about that one and see what I can do. Really, if it was educational stuff, I wouldn't be bothered by it so much. But it's...computer games (like the one with plant zombies) and kid-friendly sitcoms (though she'll try to watch OTHER, teen-related shows if she could get away with it!). It's something I'll have to work on.

My plans for the summer are not all worked out just yet, but at least we can start it off with some ideas.

The schedule

This week, we started a new "summer schedule" for Jennifer. Basically, it's a "back-up plan" to beat the summer vacation boredom that can likely ensue when there are not a whole lot of activities planned. And it's also my way to prevent Jennifer from spending her entire summer vacation lazing around the house doing nothing fun or educational and watching TV all the time. Things on the schedule include activities like playtime, cleaning up around the house, reading a book (or being read to), going for a walk, visiting the park, etc. It also includes a daily "special activity."

The special activity is assigned according to what day of the week it is. These are the special activities for the week:

Monday: Craft project
Tuesday: Talent show
Wednesday: Nature walk
Thursday: Science project
Friday: Write Something Day!
Saturday: Go on an outing
Sunday: Cooking day

I know you can't exactly "plan" fun, but Jen sometimes has a hard time figuring out what she wants to do. I have definitely had one or two occasions in which she'll get frustrated and say, "I'm bored!" So having the schedule is definitely a great way to beat the boredom. In fact, she keeps going on about how much she loves the schedule because it sort of helps give her a sense of direction on what to do with her day. While it has been great for her to have new and fun summer-y experiences, it hasn't been so great for me. A lot of these things include me participating with the kids, which eats into my time to do housework and the writing. I am still managing to squeeze those tasks in somewhere or another. Still, the laundry ended up piling up this week, the trash can was overflowing and the floor in the living room hasn't been vacuumed for 3 days! (I am hoping I will be able to vacuum later tonight.) I have managed to get some housework done, though; dishes, beds made, floors swept and mopped, toys picked up, etc.

All the same, we've been having a great time using the schedule. We are not on track with it yet, much to Jen's chagrin. But I told her it takes time to get used to any schedule. We also have to work activities around Jesse's naptimes.

This week we went on a nature walk and it was just awesome. We enjoyed looking at the many gardens, and especially liked seeing a pumpkin patch in somebody's front yard! Jen collected a lot of leaves, rocks, pinecones and sticks that she thought were all interesting.

When we walked to the park, a funny thing happened. There was this yellow squiggly-shaped pipe on the street next to a curb. But when I saw it, my first thought was that it was a snake! I jumped then grabbed Jen and pulled her away, freaking out and going, "Aah! Snake!" I swear, it looked so much like a snake. But Jennifer laughed and said, "That's not a snake!" I almost fainted when she bent over to pick it up. It was then I noticed it was a pipe! LOL How embarrassing. A guy passing by who saw the whole thing was laughing about it, too. At the park, I took pictures of the kids playing and also of Jen playing in the sprinklers. You can't have summer without playing in the sprinklers!



For her science project, the theme this week was space. I picked space to celebrate the launch of Endeavor which FINALLY happened on Wednesday (after so many delays) and also because it is almost the 40th anniversary of man landing on the moon. Yay!! I love things that have to do with outer space (part of why I love Star Trek and sci-fi so much) and my dream house even has an observatory in it. (I have actually drawn out what my dream house looks like!) So for a science project, Jennifer made a space shuttle and a rocket. Originally, she was just gonna make the shuttle, but decided to go ahead and make the rocket, too. I helped her make the shuttle and she made the rocket all by herself. Woot! They are not perfect, but, hey, she's 7. You can see them here. Afterwards, I found a site on the 'Net where she could learn about rockets. What they look like, how they're made and what everything in a rocket does. I was amazed she was able to read the word "Oxidizer." Woot, go Jen!

Today, Jen had to write something. Previously, I made a list of writing prompts so she could have an idea of what to write. You can view that list here. She's usually gung-ho with the writing stuff. It's like she is always writing something! (And crafting something or drawing something...) But, today, she had a serious case of writer's block. Oh, no! She didn't want to write ANYTHING on that list. As she kept refusing every idea, I started to wonder if she was struck with perfectionist syndrome (which is what I am known to fall prey to quite often; EVERYTHING I write just HAS to be perfect on the first go). But as I talked with her more about what to write and why she didn't want to write some things, I learned she was just shy. She said it was embarrassing to write about those things. I assured her she could trust me with whatever she wrote. I promised not to laugh or tell anybody about it or point out any mistakes. (Though I DID have to stop her in the act of plagiarism. Yikes! I am going to have to have a kid-friendly talk with her about plagiarism.) After the talk, she wrote about her favorite color. When I read it, I gave her high praises, a high five and mondo congrats for writing something awesome. She beat her writer's block! Yay!

Tomorrow, we're planning to go out to the park and fly a kite. That is, if we get some windy weather. If not, we'll go on some other outing. And on Sunday, we're baking brownies together. Yum. Should be fun!



LATER: You know what? I'm not going to get all worked up over not being able to stay on top of getting ALL of the housework done every day, or every week. I have realized that my kids are not going to stay young forever. Time flies by so fast and, before I know it, they'll be teenagers wanting to spend ALL of their time with their friends instead of with Mom or Dad. I am going to enjoy this summer fun with them. I'll get caught up on the housework eventually. That housework will always be here, but they sure won't. And I don't want Jennifer to go back to school saying, "My mom spent the summer cleaning the house while I did stuff by myself." At least we ALL get some of the housework done every day. And that should be enough, for now!

Summer recap

Well, summer vacation is very near the end. School starts next week and we've been making preparations for Jen's return. We've done the back-to-school shopping thing and have been trying to reestablish a school-night bedtime again.

Unfortunately, there were some things I wanted us to do this summer that we didn't get to do! And why didn't we get to do them? Because this summer has just been so crazy. We have been busy-busy-busy!

I wanted to go on vacation this summer. Didn't happen. First because my husband had to work, second because I had a medical situation that lasted for some time, and third because we had to use the money we could have used for vacation on repairs. Sigh!

I wanted to go to the beach. As far as I know, the beach is an hour away. Didn't happen. Oh, well! Just as well, though. I don't exactly have a "bikini figure" (not that I'd wear a bikini, anyway! I'm too modest to wear one) and, besides, Jesse is not yet old enough to enjoy a sandy beach to play at.

I wanted to take a swimming class with Jennifer. I thought THIS would be the year I would finally learn how to swim! And Jennifer can learn, too. Again, didn't happen.

If there's one thing that describes our summer, then, like I said, it's the word "busy."

Still, we did find room to have fun. We went for walks, went to the park, saw movies, played games, read books, danced and sang, and did some crafts here and there. We slept in, ate lots of cold ice cream treats, had barbecues and built "forts" which later had to be taken down (unfortunately for Jennifer).

There is, however, one thing that makes this summer a productive one for my child: Writing. By far, she wrote stories more than she did anything else. I am simply amazed at how much she has written this summer. She has just written and drawn so many stories. I'm in shock!

There were some stories which were entirely in picture, which she narrated to me. And then there were some which had words and pictures. I never corrected her spelling mistakes, either; I didn't think it was something she'd have to worry about at this point in time. I merely enjoyed her stories, spelling mistakes and all, and praised her for her creativity and determination to write a story from beginning to end.

I know we didn't do all of the things this summer which everybody else is usually doing -- going to the beach, going fishing, swimming, going to summer camp (I couldn't find one that accepted children under 7), going camping -- but I'm glad that some good still came out of Jennifer's summer vacation. Instead of telling her teacher about all the stories she read on her summer break, she'll be sharing all of the stories she wrote, instead. And that's not all bad, really. At least she has still been working with words.