Saying Good-bye to Summer Break

It really seems like yesterday that I was writing THIS POST about my intentions for the summer. And somehow the boys are back in school with one week under their belt. (Sigh)…

Reflecting on what my hopes and expectations were for this summer, I can see I was able to accomplish a lot of what I was looking for. Not all, but a lot. What I am happiest about is that we did achieve a “slowing down” and being more present in our days. It really helped to have all that time off from work to be able to enjoy the days and mornings with the boys. It was really wonderful. But I also think consciously setting my intentions at the start of the summer was key.

Besides setting my intentions, I also gave myself some strategies to try and follow. Some stuck more than others. I did keep up my schedule of getting up early to enjoy my quiet time followed by exercise, but I did not get as much of the writing time as I had hoped. Need to figure out another tactic for that. Another thing we did not do an a regular basis was the group 20 minute quiet reading time daily. However, the boys did get bitten by a vicious “Calvin and Hobbes” bug, which had them reading those books all day, every day. Not exactly the chapter books I was hoping for, but, oh well!

Speaking of books, Ben pretty much devoured Harry Potter Audiobooks #3, 4, 5, 6, 7 this summer. If you are familiar with the Harry Potter series, you can imagine how many hours of listening that was. A lot. We started reading them, but we couldn’t keep up with his demand to listen to more and more. We threw in the towel after reading books #1 and #2 and just checked out the audiobooks for the rest from the library. He was listening to anywhere from 2 to 5 hours a day! And if we needed to discipline him, it usually involved taking away Harry Potter listening time. Weird, but it worked.

Every other Thursday evening, we got together with friends at the park to play a different old-school game. The dads chose the game, coordinated everything and led the kids. It was better than we could have hoped for. The kids really loved playing with the dads, and to spend 2+ hours outside playing outside on a summer night was heavenly.

Another fun highlight for us was chicken-sitting. Our neighbors up the road went out of town on 3 different occasions and they asked us to take care of the chickens for them. More than eating delicious fresh eggs and being surrogate parents to this little flock, my favorite part of the experience was riding our bikes in the morning to go check on our “girls”. We would pass all the early morning walkers and joggers and say “good morning” as we headed to chicken duty. I distinctly remember on our rides back home with the wind in our faces how content we were and that I wanted to remember those simple moments for a long time to come.

As planned, we did not do any big trips this summer. Mainly just day trips. In July, we did go on a little road trip aligned with a 3-day meeting I had in Atlanta for work. We drove up to Atlanta, where we visited the High Museum of Art. There was a Mo Willems exhibit that I really wanted the kids to see. And who’s kidding who, I wanted to see it too. What a beautiful museum The High is! The Mo Willems exhibit was perfect. The boys loved the colors and seeing their favorite characters all around. The next day, they left to go on a 3-night camping adventure in the North Carolina mountains and I stayed behind in Atlanta. Brian said the 4-hour drive was a breeze and no one talked as they pretty much just listened to Harry Potter the whole way (I told you it was insane). They had such a blast during their stay. They met up with our favorite camping family and the kids pretty much jumped in streams and played in the water the whole time. On the way back, they picked me up from Atlanta, where we headed to Stone Mountain for two nights. Stone Mountain Park was a fun place to reconnect with my boys.

The extra time in our summer allowed for lots of creative time together, and for that I am so grateful. I do not have the patience or attention-span for complicated crafts and such, so we usually just paint or draw. Sometimes we paint canvases, sometimes rocks, sometimes toilet paper rolls. I have found that sitting with them to paint, draw or color is always time well-spent. First, I notice that they are more apt to sit still. Secondly, they are more apt to open up during this time. I hear about a lot more from them than when I ask specific questions. And lastly, they do not usually bicker when we do this which is always pleasant. I see the effect of these special times in their ideas and artistic expression daily.

The boys are now back in school. Homework, nightly baths and lunch-making is back on, and the school-year train has officially left the station. A part of me is having a hard time accepting this reality. I am not a very good school-year mom. I am forgetful and always feel like I am scrambling. I thought I would take a stab at some intentions for our coming school year:

To be present and seek moments of joy within the daily routines of the school year.

 

To carve out space and breathing room in our days so that we can have time to appreciate what we have.

The intentions seem short and simple but I know from experience I am going to have to fight tooth and nail to keep them in focus. I guess I want to feel more like I am in the driver’s seat and less like the passenger in a runaway train 😉

So with that, I say good-bye to the summer of 2015…a good one for sure.

Posted by Ale & filed under Family Time. This post has 2 comments.