well. it is here. Summer.
Actually we are two whole days into summer….the NO school part, but still have a foot in the door of the “social” part. There are still a few “goodbye school” or “Goodbye Friend who is moving” parties to attend…it’s like the life support is still on and in a few days… when the first wave of friends have left for exciting vacation trips, and the parties are over…we will pull the plug…REAL summer will begin… and it will be…just me and them.
You know what question I hate? What are your summer plans? We have made nary a plan. One friend who knows who she is, and I know will read this, is already on her way with her family to a vacation destination…booked…at said destination…last year when they were leaving said destination. Even just typing that in code makes me anxious. Why can’t I plan way ahead like that? Maybe because it terrifies me to commit that far in advance? Or Maybe because it would mean I would have to have a deposit on hand which I do not have because according to my husband…I spend everything I get. Which trust me…is like when the Grandpa gives the kid a quarter and says “don’t spend it all in one place.”
At the end of last summer, I swore that THIS would be the summer we would take our kids to Europe..fast forward a year…we do not even have passports. Or a pool membership…though my husband tells me..”The paperwork is right there.” I guess I have been too busy painting the kitchen floor and renovating bathrooms and spending money we don’t have to get us to Italy..OR the pool. So now what do we do? The time is ticking away. These are the years that matter…Tate has 3 more summers with us, two if he decides that after his senior year, when he will be 18, he just wants to take matters into his own hands and go to Europe alone…or with a friend…and I have made no plans.
So what do you do when you have no plans made and no money to go anywhere anyway? My daughter, who DOES have a plan, is actually going to be a lifeguard this summer. Okay so, we will go to the pool. We WILL join the pool. I will have to get there early to get a shady spot…In addition to being way behind on summer plans, I am even more far behind on getting my bathing suit body back. But give me a few weeks… Don’t hold your breath.
I am think about stealing JEN HATMAKERS “Mystery Thursdays.” Letting the kids plan something fun (and cheap) once a week and we can do something…that does not start with “i” and end with “phone”. I don’t even need to take my camera any more because Phoebe takes all the photos..(of course they are all of her, making sassy faces…or of a bug on a tree). Maybe she will even make a VINE movie of me doing the “if I have to pull over this car” bit. Because I will want to remember that!
Anyway, plans are over-rated.
and besides..who needs plans when you can sleep? (taken at 11 am)
WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS?
You are a girl after my own heart! I am a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants kind of gal and I am mostly fine with that – but of course, like you, I get all twitchy when I hear about EVERYONE else’s summer plans! Teenagers are tough – I have one that plays very competitive soccer so that rules our schedule and travel plans! Plus, don’t they just want to sleep and ‘hang-out’….My 11 year old ‘tween’ is tougher – teetering between ‘camps are cool’ and ‘camps are lame’……..Yesterday was our last day of school, so I guess I will begin hatching a plan next week sometime. Heck, won’t they want to help me with all the diy projects on my summer ‘to do’ list???? Ha!
xo~Jill
We are non-plan people. Every summer we join my parents and my sister and her husband at Atlantic Beach, NC for a week. It is the very first week after school gets out so after we get back, the whooooole summer stretches out before us without any plans. This summer will be a little different…my son graduated from high school on Wednesday so he is off to the beach today with his friends so will miss our trip. It will be weird without him! My daughter finished junior year of college and is staying in Harrisonburg for the summer but will be going to the beach with us.
I wish I had the idea of Mystery Thursdays when my kids were younger (love Jen Hatmaker!). We did a lot of pool time, library books and movie matinees. Have a great summer!
Plans are sooooo overrated! LOL I planned about as far as hiring our friend to nanny the big guys for us over the summer. I had so much faith, that I never even looked into anyone else, despite the fact that she has had some medical problems and hasn’t gotten her license back yet. BUT, she’s cheap, the kids love her and shes like family.
Last time I “planned” something, we got all the way to the coast (2+ hours away) and realized I forgot the darn keys to the house!
all the more reason I say…just be spontaneous!!! Have a great summer!