Monday 14 August 2017

Yup I'm Back! Happy Summer!

Good Monday morning! Everyone survive the harried bustle of getting the kids out the door and spouses off to work? I have my coffee and am all settled in to spend sometime with my friends.

I must admit, I'm not one of those who hates Mondays. After the activity of the weekend I confess I look forward to my quiet Monday morning. I'm very fortunate that I am able to grab my coffee and curl up with my dogs and enjoy the peacefulness of the morning.

I remember summer meaning no schedule for our family. School was done, maybe my younger brother still had baseball for a while into the holidays but he was usually the only one besides my dad of course, who had to be somewhere. It was glorious! Getting up a bit later than usual, calling my best friend and making girl plans. Jam food in, yell goodbye to my mom and I was on my bike and free. 

Everyday was a clean slate, sun shining, freezie money in my pocket for when it got hot, and the world was our oyster... Long bike rides, days hanging out by the dock or the neighbourhood pool. Rarely were we indoors, but even then we were busy colouring our hair, baking some concoction and if we were lucky we could crash at each other's homes and stay up way too late, order pizza and play silly games. 

8 oh so short weeks of self entertainment. No way would my mom have set up a summer schedule. She was busy with my younger siblings so I was expected to be bright enough to call home if we were at my girlfriend's place or if I was going to be late for dinner. My parents didn't organize play dates, or expect to know where I was moment by moment. 

Some summers I was so lucky! Summer camp! 2 glorious weeks away from everything. No phones, no television, no siblings or parents! At camp we learned to shoot .22s and used bows & arrows. But my favorite was the herd of horses. Horse back riding, learning about how to feed and groom the animals. Best of all.. Making life long memories.

Life sure is not the way it was. It appears that children are scheduled year round and families just don't seem to unwind the way we did. Parents feel that they are required to hover and plan every moment of their children's day and this is on top of many parents having to work and fit these schedules into their precious moments of down time. Families seem exhausted. 

Hard to believe that in 2 weeks kids will be running down school halls asking each other what they did this summer. I hope that some kids will be able to say, "I didn't do anything and it was GREAT!". In the next few weeks, please just slow down if you can. Hang out by a river, throw rocks, catch frogs. Before bed check out the night sky and see how many you and your kids can name. Put the schedule away and make some real memories. 

Time for a coffee refill and I'm going to grab a book and enjoy some quiet time this afternoon. Hope your summer is treating you well! I'd love to see pictures of places or things you have done. Maybe I'll even start my next entry started! Cheers everyone! I'm back!