May 17 was the last day of preschool for my boys. Hudson went five days a week last year and Hayes went three days a week. From 9:00 a.m. until noon, they’d get dropped off, I’d run a couple of errands, I started going to Pure Barre, and then it was time to pick them up. By the time we got home and ate lunch, it was time for naps. Long, sweet naps. They’d wake up from their nap and we’d play and read books and watch something on Disney Junior and wait for Todd to come home.
That was our routine.
And then on May 18, I started to panic and thought, “What happened to our routine? How will we survive without our routine?”
So I started thinking about all these ways I could come up with a fun list of things to do. I could make daily charts to have a bit of a “flexible summer routine.”
But the charts never got made. The routine was never implemented.
And we’ve survived.
Some days have been full of activity. Hudson had a week of swim camp. And then we had a couple of weeks of 25 minute swim lessons. We had a week of VBS.
We’ve had play dates at the zoo, the children’s museum, and the pool. We’ve gone to play in friends’ backyards and had friends over to play with us. Before the rain set in, we were going to the park and going for long walks.
And we’ve survived.
We’ve had so much fun!
Now, don’t get me wrong. I hear, “Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!” about 3,856 times a day. I referee at the train table as much as I praise them for getting along with each other. We had to leave the pool a little bit early today because Hudson just had a rotten attitude. And the truth is, he just needed more sleep.
But, y’all. I’m loving summer time. Every moment of every day is not intentional. I don’t have activities and games and learning activities planned for every day.
This in-between that we’re in has been so relaxing. We have days when we don’t get out of our pajamas. We have days when 5:30 rolls around and we decide to either eat sandwiches or have a pizza delivered because cooking just wasn’t going to happen.
The laundry gets backed up and the toys are really disorganized.
It’s not the best way to run a home 365 days a year, but it’s okay for right now.
The summer is more than halfway over for us and I have no idea where the time went. We’ll spend next week at my parents’ house, and in a couple of weeks we’ll be at the beach.
It was a fun idea to think that I’d have Hudson practicing his handwriting every day and have Hayes working on his colors and shapes for a little bit each day. But it’s just not our reality.
My goal has been to keep them happy and entertained. Movies. Playing outside. Running in the sprinkler. (Or sprayers as Hudson calls them.) Eating watermelon and popsicles in swimsuits and skipping baths because they went to the pool that day. (Oh yes. It’s true.)
It’s cuddles on the couch and introducing them to a new movie. It’s deciding at the last minute to run meet a friend at the park because everyone desperately needs a change of scenery. It’s turning the mandatory trip to the grocery store into a fun, exciting outing for them. And playing “hide and go see” for two hours before bedtime because the rain has taken away our ability to play outside. (And lack of time outside makes it harder for everyone to get along in a house full of boys.)
Survival mode somehow, sweetly, turned into thriving mode. And I know that I’ll be sad to say goodbye to summer.
Sweet Summer is wonderful yet exhausting.
Definately, swimming counts for a bath sometimes! Ha, I do the same thing!!!
I’ll sound crazy, but we mostly unschool our 6 kids and almost all of our time year round is not scheduled. But there is always a natural flow to things, and there is always tomorrow.
Enjoy the rest of your summer! 🙂
I had every intention of having my son practice his reading everyday so he’d be ahead when he starts kinder. We were going to do daily handwriting because his is awful. He was going to have a limited amount of t.v. and get dressed each day and do learning activities . . . OR . . . none of it happened. 😉 And like you, I think it’s okay. There is definitely a need and a time for a routine, but sometimes we all need a break from it. Since summer is self limiting, I figure it’ll all be okay. Maybe I won’t have the top reader in the kindergarten class, but at least he’ll have a summer he enjoyed.
Love this post. It’s so refreshing to hear other moms who had good intentions of “teaching” their kids letters or numbers or colors or whatever, only to give way to the fun & excitement of summertime. Sometimes splashing in the water table or scribbling with sidewalk chalk is way more important than learning colors at 18 months!
Great post! My children are all older and oh how I miss those days of summer when we were carefree and just spending time together. Cherish these days…so happy for you that you have this special time together! I am like you and am all about routines, but there is something to be said about just letting go and living!
Are you going to IOP again this summer? We leave Saturday for a full week there. I’m so excited to take Quinn for his first beach trip! Summer has certainly flown by and I feel like I’m just starting to enjoy it. Darn rain!
I know exactly what you are talking about. I thrive on schedule, but days like what you mentioned are exactly why we postponed any kind of MDO or PK for my boys until the last minute. I wanted to soak up as much as I possibly could and now that my two oldest have to go to school (they are 8 and 5) , it makes me cherish summer and other breaks more than ever. Enjoy : )
Thriving mode is simply so much better than surviving mode! I’m trying to take the time to savor all the sweet moments summertime brings.
as nice as the first “structured” schedules sound, i do believe that the summertime fun sounds way more fun…getting to experience all those things with the boys makes for some special memories i bet and i know they are loving all that time they get with mommy!!
Oh what a sweet post 🙂 I loved this line at the end: “Survival mode somehow, sweetly, turned into thriving mode” So glad the C’s are having such a wonderful summer, despite all the rain and humidity!
Also….I hate that my baby is getting bigger and bigger, but I’ll admit, I read posts like this and I get a little excited for the days where we can watch movies and enjoy special lunch dates at CFA or running through “sprayers” 🙂
I am moving to Columbia, and am in desperate need of a place to move too…. Anyone have any suggestions?
I hate to see summer go too. June was crazy, and July seems slightly less crazy, but I love not being at work:)
LOVE this! I haven’t started Zoe in daycare yet, but we still somehow manage to catch a ‘summer vibe’ in our house…
So far summer is kicking my hiney! I was sick for 1 full week, and Carter has been sick 2 different times! Usually by this time we would have been at the pool like 15 times…but between sickness and vacation we’ve only been once! THAT’S GOING TO CHANGE NEXT WEEK! I AM TAKING OUR SUMMER BACK! Love seeing pics of your boys. They are precious! 🙂
LOVE it! Sounds similar to the way I “run” our summer here! The best laid plans….
Absolutely precious! Sounds like the perfect summer. Wish my summer was like yours for sure, so enjoy every minute!
Oh friend! I can tell y’all are enjoying your summer! I could smell that watermelon Hayes was eating the other day!
Happy Summer!
Sweet, sweet summertime. 🙂 Loved this post!