Lazy Summer
The last week of summer vacation. The 17 year old got up at the crack of dawn to go fishing and the 14, 11 and 9 year olds slept in as usual and the 5 and 3 year olds are playing. The summer sounds of screen doors slamming and cicadas humming and the trampoline bouncing flow in the window on the breeze.
I love the summer. Not so much the hot and humid weather, which comes and goes here, but the laziness of it all. No particular schedule except going to the pool for lessons and then for playtime in the afternoon if the mood strikes. Birds chirping at my window and kids yelling to one another, and just waiting for the day to unfold.The whole aimlessness of it all is so appealing to me.
Sure, I like predictability and a gentle rhythm to my days, but summer brings a much needed respite to all that. We spend nine intense months doing school at home, and when Memorial Day comes, I am ready to throw in the towel and jump in the pool with the kids.
No schooling year round for us. They are kids for just a little while, and then they have summer jobs or college classes and other responsibilities. I know that in "real life" we don't get to take the entire summer off, but there is something so special about taking 3 months off to rest and play and grow while still a child.
I have memories of long, hot summer days, bored and restless. But it was in those times that I found things to do to amuse myself, I grew and learned the most. How to build a fort. How high could I climb a tree without getting stuck. How big my foot swelled after a bee sting. How to identify birds and their calls. How far I could walk in the woods without getting lost. How to start a fire. How to lose myself in nature or in a good book or in a simple daydream.
But soon we will be hitting the books again; it will be time for some reading and studying and preparing for the future. But summer vacations are an integral part of a child's education, and I am determined to see to it that all my kids have a proper summer. Every summer.
I love the summer. Not so much the hot and humid weather, which comes and goes here, but the laziness of it all. No particular schedule except going to the pool for lessons and then for playtime in the afternoon if the mood strikes. Birds chirping at my window and kids yelling to one another, and just waiting for the day to unfold.The whole aimlessness of it all is so appealing to me.
Sure, I like predictability and a gentle rhythm to my days, but summer brings a much needed respite to all that. We spend nine intense months doing school at home, and when Memorial Day comes, I am ready to throw in the towel and jump in the pool with the kids.
No schooling year round for us. They are kids for just a little while, and then they have summer jobs or college classes and other responsibilities. I know that in "real life" we don't get to take the entire summer off, but there is something so special about taking 3 months off to rest and play and grow while still a child.
I have memories of long, hot summer days, bored and restless. But it was in those times that I found things to do to amuse myself, I grew and learned the most. How to build a fort. How high could I climb a tree without getting stuck. How big my foot swelled after a bee sting. How to identify birds and their calls. How far I could walk in the woods without getting lost. How to start a fire. How to lose myself in nature or in a good book or in a simple daydream.
But soon we will be hitting the books again; it will be time for some reading and studying and preparing for the future. But summer vacations are an integral part of a child's education, and I am determined to see to it that all my kids have a proper summer. Every summer.
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