Reflections on the Close of Summer, Part I

So, summer is officially over for us.  Cat and Jack started school on Monday, and Eliza begins later this week.  I am both relieved for the 6-hour break during the day and mourning the beginning of early, hectic mornings and long, full afternoons and evenings.  I honestly don't know which emotion wins at this point, but I guess it doesn't matter.  The school year has begun, so we're going with it.

As I reflect on our summer, the only word that comes to mind is "busy." But it was a good busy.  We weren't busy shuttling kids back and forth to camps and classes (with the exception of soccer, but that was manageable).  We were busy doing things we wanted and needed to do a lot of days, and busy with family and friends who were visiting us a lot of days, and busy traveling to spend time with family the remainder of the days.  Probably the best kind of busy.

I had aspirations of being very routined this summer, and being much more deliberate with how we spent our days, and doing a better job of taking time to just be with the older kids in the afternoons when Luke was napping.  I wanted the kids to be more responsible, helping with cleaning every day.  I wanted them to learn or improve on various skills such as folding laundry, cooking, cleaning, and sewing.  And I wanted them to have lots of fun experiences.  I made a series of beautiful visuals that were displayed in the house, outlining these goals and expectations.

How did it go?

So-so.

We were not so great about being routined and getting all of the things done each day that I would have liked to get done.  But I was okay with that.  I think that having the days outlined in advance helped us anyway, thinking about things we would do as the day progressed.  And we were deliberate about what we chose not to do when the schedule was altered, because we knew what the rest of the day could look like.  It worked out fine.

I think each of the kids established or built on some good habits/skills.  Jack and Eliza had only folded laundry a few times before this summer, but now I know that I can count on them to get their laundry folded and put away in a timely manner.  Jack learned how to cook frozen chicken nuggets this summer, which he was really excited about; Cat began acting as Deputy Babysitter and might be ready to take the reigns in a year or so; and Eliza started helping to empty the dishwasher every day.  Progress.

Did we have fun experiences?  Yes.  We had lots.  I'll share those... eventually.  But I was disappointed when I checked out our summer bucket list last week and saw the many, many things we didn't do.  I'm not just talking about the fun outings we were hoping to experience as a family (including going to a rodeo...) but the things I thought I'd be able to do with the big kids during the second hour of Luke's nap each afternoon, which I dubbed "Big Kid Mommy Time."  I had aspirations of doing lots of sewing and arts & crafts with The Bigs, of writing stories together and doing science experiments and baking and cooking and playing games.  We did some of those things, but I didn't take advantage of that time like I could have.  I should have done better.

To be continued...