Yesterday was the first official day of summer for my kids. Lucas' last day of school was Wednesday. Already, I have made some observations regarding how our summer will play out.1. My children must go to bed on time, despite no longer being able to use the it's-a-school-night rationale. Why? Firstly, because they annoy me past eight o'clock in the evening. Who am I kidding? They begin annoying me around five o'clock. Secondly, having them up seriously cuts into my Facebook time. And finally, my children (Lucas and Sophie, in particular) are absolute beasts when they do not get adequate sleep.
2. Like my mother before me, I need to start kicking my children out of the house when I get home from work in the afternoon. Yesterday, they were underfoot and in my way all afternoon. I have a nice fenced-in back yard. I need to shove them out the door--perhaps even lock it behind them--and force them to soak in some vitamin D. It's for their own good, right?
3. My children must take responsibility for cleaning their own bedrooms. As it stands right now, both the boys' and Sophie's bedrooms look as though a tornado--or more appropriately, a tsunami--crashed into our house and specifically targeted their rooms. Toys and papers are strewn across every square inch of floor space. It is impossible to even tell the color of their carpet. Now that summer is here and the kids are home all of the time and friends are running in and out of our house, the kids are going to HAVE to keep their rooms clean.
4. I must not use video games as a means to an end. What end am I talking about? Well, stopping the incessant whining in my ear, of course. The Wii is an easy out when it comes to the boys. They would sit and play it for hours on end, leaving me in relative peace. I must NOT succumb to the strong temptation to extend their allowable Wii time during the summer. They are already pale and pasty enough. I need to get those boys outside.
5. Despite their protests to the contrary, my children DO have enough toys. There ARE things to do in our house. All of their belongings are NOT boooor-ing. How could they possible be "bored" after one day at home? Less than twenty-four hours into summer and they are already complaining about the utter banality of their lives. Seriously? Try talking to 111 hot, cranky people about their broken air conditioners in one day. Then come and talk to me about tedium.
I have a feeling it is going to be a loooooong. summer.
3 comments:
Summer hasn't started for us yet (school or weather wise). :( Loved the post. I wanted to share that I have a friend who is on a quest for "Summer Structure". She is looking to make sure there are things planned every day of the week to try and keep the kids from driving her crazy. I think it is brilliant, and am attempting to follow her lead. We'll see how that goes. Anyway, best of luck to you!!!
I love the idea of outside. My kids played outside everyday with a small interlude of day camp. My grandkids play outside everyday in the neighborhood. They ride their bikes while the moms have wine in the afternoon (during summertime). They climb trees and make their own zip lines which don't really zip along but hey have great fun creating. Leave them out in the yard and bring your laptop and sit on your patio. Enjoy the sunshine. Invite the other neighborhood kids over. I used to love summer with my own sons as their was no homework, no set bedtime and we were all free to explore.
I must also say we had kids everywhere in all the neighborhoods so it made it easy for everyone to play at each others houses and it was close and they could walk by themselves with me standing at the door watching.
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