Beginning of fall (?!?) and thoughts on summer + working

(Pics from my walk this morning)

I cannot believe it’s September tomorrow.

I just can’t! I feel generally happy about this, because September- December is definitely my favorite season. But it still feels like a bit of a shock to me.

I think summer went….well. I think? I’m not even sure.

I know there were so many fun/good things, namely:

• Asher went to Florida for training trip with swim team
• FAMILY CRUISE!!!!
• Time with sister + family
• 4th of July festivities and fun
• Boys both had jobs!! And liked them. (*Asher at a temporary agriculture job only, as only 13 y/o and not old enough for “real” job yet)
• Other visits from family, local outings
• Boys both spent quality time at my parents’ house!
• Ethan started “high school stuff” (summer strength and conditioning class)
• Some random fun things, like bike rides, night out at Terrace on campus, movies, etc.
• Ethan played some tennis, the boys golfed a lot, Asher did some swimming (though many fewer meets than normal) and a lot of fishing with friends
• Ethan started driving! And played possibly obscene amounts of video games. 🙄

Part of me feels like there was a lot of chaos, too. Lots of visitors! Lots of action. Did the “lazy days of summer” pass me by?? Did I miss it all?!

In reality I think that while I am working full time + parenting, summer is just never going to be exactly what I “think” it should be, or what I remember “summer” to be.

My memories of summer + childhood stem from having a mom who was a teacher, meaning she didn’t work in the summers. We never were in childcare/camps all summer- we were home with my mom, mostly, though we did lots of fun things. I have blissful memories of biking around the neighborhood, swimming in our pool, breakfasts on our screen porch, lots of reading, playing in our basement rec room during summer thunderstorms (I swear I can still smell the combination of the cool, damp basement + the scent of humid rain and grass wafting down the stairs), watching movies, babysitting a lot as a tween, and staying out of my mom’s way while she went nuts decluttering and deep cleaning our entire house during the summer months (with General Hospital on in the background). She also seemed to iron clothes a lot. 😅

My sister and I did some scheduled activities in the summer, like Zoo Camps and park visits, softball and piano/strings lessons, but this was the 80s. People did not overschedule their kids to the hilt like it seems we all do, now. Ha. I know we traveled a good amount in the summer, too- always a long road trip to national parks usually in July, plus some other weekends camping in our pop-up camper sprinkled in, too.

I spent A LOOOOOOT of time with my 2 best friends. We had many, many, many sleepovers!! hehe. Ahhh, the good old days.

If I could ever snap my fingers and go back in time, that’s where I’d go, in a heartbeat.

It was a little disappointing to grow up and realize that, um, most people actually work during the summer, too. Who knew?! This is a major character flaw of employment everywhere. 😆😅

I also realized that summer is…. a pretty long time for parents to have to juggle children + jobs at the same time. Asher even said the other day, “I think I’m ready to go back to school. It’s just getting a little boring being off now for so long.”

(We normally travel for a full 2 weeks in August, which breaks up this last month of summer, but did not this year due to family cruise in June.)

I guess what I am saying is that summer simultaneously felt very long, and also very short. Does that make sense? Not really, but it is what it is. Did we “make the most of it”??? I think we did our best with what we could. It was not ideal in some ways, yet it was great in very many ways, too.

I’m not sure that I would change anything, exactly, though there’s also a part of me that wonders if I should have/could have done anything “better”? I know the travel was great, but were enough other happy, classic, “summertime” memories created??

In reality, I know we’re doing fine. The boys will have their own memories of favorite summer moments one day, and they will probably be things that I don’t even realize. (Like how the smell of Pine Sol brings me fond, pleasant memories of summer + my mom cleaning out our kitchen cabinets, or the smell of sawdust always reminds me of my dad working on a project in the garage on a summer evening with a Brewers game on the radio…while they probably have no idea that I even remember things like that.)

“There is no reverse in life, only a future in which you can steer it.”

Back to school: Asher’s turn

And today is the official end of summer for us, because Asher had his 1st day of 8th grade today!

It is a bit anti-climactic, because not only is it an early release day, but he is also going to skip school tomorrow (day 2) to go Up North with a friend to their lake house for Labor Day weekend. He’s leaving at 1:45 this afternoon.

I know, we are award-winning parents for allowing this. But the weather looks hot and steamy- perfect for “lake house” activities like boating and tubing and fishing- and besides, what do they even do on the 2nd day of school? Probably not much. And Asher is an excellent student, so I’m really not worried. (His friend is in the public schools which don’t start until Tuesday, hence their family traveling today.)

Onward ho/ full steam ahead to the ’23-’24 school year!!!

Daily Gratitude:

I am grateful for happy kids. The high school transition has not been without certain growing pains (hi, way more homework and very long days), but Ethan is so happy playing high school soccer (has made “tons” of friends already (his words) and wishes the season lasted even longer) and he also said this morning, and I quote, “I love high school so far!”