Let's Go Bring Back Summer!

Every honest mom's two thoughts on Memorial Day Weekend:

1. Yay!  It's summer! 

2. (Crushing terror) It's summer!

We are two weeks into summer break here and I've definitely felt the polar ends of summer elation and terror.  We started off with a bang, a no-TV day.  All day.  For some, this is a no-brainer, but for us, it was a bit unprecedented.  8-10 a.m. is usually Care Bear/Little Pony/Chipmunk time as I get the kids feed and then the kitchen cleaned up. I can't remember the specifics of why I hid all the remotes (though bad attitudes and generally brain-dead children must have been a factor), I was surprised at how easy the day went and the improvement in attitude of my older daughter.  I've never kept to a strict "screen time" schedule, but I have weaned a certain 5-year-old girl off having "mommy's phone" in her room just so that Mommy can have 45 minutes of sanity.  In a move of sheer genius, I pulled the dusty CD player into her room to play books on CD.  GENIUS MOVE.  I highly recommend it.  Sarah is not reading yet, but she can follow along with the "ding" of the CD... major nostalgia, too, for us kids of the 80s and 90s.  I remember reading a Rumpelstiltskin reader on cassette.  And you can check out kids' books on CD at the library.  A little less TV equals a bit more ingenuity for everyone.

We've been taking swim lessons as I've mentioned previously, and it has been such a treat to see the girls become competent in the water.  They both push themselves each time we swim recreationally, and both have requested to venture into the deep end with Mom.  That pushes me out of my comfort zone as well, but it's a new feeling to see your children become self-sufficient in an area beyond going to the bathroom.  Like they can do things.  I feel like we are coming into our own as a family, and that's just the best.  Jeremiah has also begun to take lessons and his teacher and his response to her as been nothing short of beautiful.  I was understandably concerned that he would not take to the tough love approach of swim lessons, but his teacher has far exceeded my expectations for him with constant praise and several tricks-up-her-sleeve to increase his comfort and trust with her.  We've got him placing his chin in the water and wading out past where he can touch by "Spiderman-ing" on the wall with his hands.  It's awesome.  The pace may be slow, but from a total refusal to get in the water last year to wanting to do what his sisters are doing-- ACES.

For J's birthday last week, we had a family pool party and it was maybe his best yet.  We had a picnic poolside and the grandparents got in and swam.  There was plenty of shade for the non-swimmers, and everyone was happy.  There aren't many times you can say that in a group, and it was special.
Also, see this boy's face?  It's everything to me.

Happy boy.  Priceless.

My wee baby can swim!

Gaining confidence

He wanted glasses. Love this.

The youngest gets all the love.

As for the crushing terror, I will freely admit that after the first 3 solo days of summer, with appointments to keep and every ding-dang minute filled with incessant little girl chatter, I had a bit of a moment and snarkily asked my husband to bring home some "special medicine" to cure my erm, "itchiness."  This is one of my favorite Raymond episodes, where Debra is experiencing moodiness on her "ladies' days" as Ray calls them and being helpful, he buys here PMS medicine to soothe the beast.  She quite rightly remarks, "There's nothing in here for bitchy."  And well, sometimes, there's just no quick fix for that.





This week has been filled with appointments, too, and I'm looking forward to some real downtime.  It's our busiest summer to date, with typical stuff like VBS, and new stuff like a vacation to a little hamlet called Disney World and a week of day camp for kids on the spectrum.  The camp has hiking, swimming, and rafting, and it's so cool that J will be able to participate.  More on that to come.

On the Disney front, let's just say I spent an hour debating which magic band accessory would best compliment each child's band and then deciding it was a total waste of money and those suckers would be pulled off or chewed in 10 minutes.  Good times.  A women's mind is a labyrinth, y'all.  Be nice to us.