When I think back on my childhood summers spent with my educator parents and younger brother, the memories go something like this: Pool. Pool. Backyard pool. Backyard dodgeball. Bike riding. Camping. Beach. Pool. Some day camp. Pool. Those days were all about embracing the sunny weather and freedom to sleep in and play late. When I think about the summer I spent with my husband and preschooler son this year, it goes more like: Work. Work. Daycare shuffle. Hand kid off to hubs. Bad prime-time reality TV. Travel. Travel with laptop. Obligatory travel. Music class. Playgroup. Park. Schedule. Schedule. Stress. Collapse. Wake up early and work. Like many other mamas I know, the return of fall and preschool and the regularity of the year has blown in some regret that we didn't kick back more, slurping popsicles and poking worms. It wasn't all bad, but it also wasn't lazy or hazy or even the crazy days of summer. And I wonder: How many families pack their summers full of stress and schedules, and are summers like these a rarity, even a thing of the past?
Sherry G. Antonetti and family's summer that "was not a verb" not only sounds delicious to me in the wake of three months of very little real downtime, it sounds just right. While many amped-up-on-activity parents might read her list of summertime family ventures --- including highlights such as asking what/looking up/forgetting what lasers are, not mounting the kid's paintings, freezing blueberries and eating peanut butter with baby fingers -- don't sound like much, I read with envy at all the nothingness that went on in their house and backyard. Perhaps in the same way I have a hard time remember exact moments from summers of my past, not doing too much in her house evokes a feeling of being happy and together and just being happy together more than a scribbled out and checked off to-do list of classes, capers, activities and pre-mixed adventures.
What was your family's summer like? And next year, will you do it differently, filling up the calendar or not keeping a calendar at all?
