HI! How Was Your Summer?
The million-dollar question this week:
“How was your summer?”
“It was good! How was yours?”
“Good!”
“Well, good then!”
I wish I knew the truth. The statistics, perhaps! Some parents just loved summer break with their kiddos and didn’t want it to end, but I wonder if there are more of us who lived in a silent summer struggle with the guilt of unmet expectations and are glad to see school start again. I have mixed emotions about my lean towards the latter.
Perhaps if we had more time together than just passing carts at the grocery store, I could lay my heart before you, and you could bare your soul to me because we need each other and because parenting is hard no matter the season and family dynamics are tricky, and strong-willed kiddos are fantastic. (read: exhausting) For now, I’ll go first.
Things I’d like to admit:
Summer break and lack of structure are fun for about a week.
My family doesn’t travel well, and by that, I mean we fall apart and get hangry and cause scenes in airports, rental car lines, and amusement parks. Traveling is way more trouble than it’s worth! There, I said it!
We don’t like the places we should like. Take for instance, Texas beaches or water parks like Family Lazy Wolf Rive...sort... The term “floating bandaid” comes to mind, and then I can’t anymore. Then there’s that whole thing where we cause scenes.
We fight when we are together too long.
No one wants to “lay on the beach” but me.
Grandma’s house is fun for approximately 2.5 days. ( best 2.5 days of the summer, though!)
Boredom is a real thing!
My children get tired of each other,
of me,
of food,
of the pool.
The only cure is to go back to school. Whatever happened to year-round school? Is that still a thing? This is the stuff I want to say!
But, do you know what?… ( I have a friend who says this when she is about to drop some encouraging truth on me!) Here is the silver lining! The deep inhale/exhale of it all. The thing that makes it okay to say the other thing to each other while we block the aisle with our grocery cart huddle.
These things are also true:
Downtime is good for the soul and looks different for every family.
Memories are made in the middle.
My family adores each other and loves to be together. (Warts and all, like my mom likes to say!) Mostly in my kitchen over chip and guac and cards. Sometimes ALL five of my long-legged lovelies (plus lil ole me) pile on my bed watching the smallest TV in the house. It doesn’t really matter what’s on.
We like short car rides with an epic playlist.
Maybe just to Sonic or Dairy Queen. It doesn’t really matter where we’re going!
Late-night encounters in the hallway that start with “Can I tell you some tea?” (that’s slang for gossip!)
This is where my family thrives.
In the middle. I’m aware of this and more than okay with it! Perhaps some families thrive in the summer? Kudos to you! Run in your lane! Summer, like holidays, has too many expectations and too much build-up for us. It’s a recipe for disaster. It’s ok not to enjoy summer break or Christmas vacation, for that matter! What does the rest of your year look like? Daily life is where it’s at for us. Ask me, “How’s life?” I will say, “Good, really good! How’s yours?” Now that’s a conversation we can have! Right there in the produce aisle!
This is the day that the Lord has made,
I will rejoice and be glad in it.
Psalm 118:24