(an impromptu stop at the International Fountain at Seattle Center last weekend.)
Way back in the infancy (the more high maintenance, fussy stage) of this blog of mine, I talked about little ones in this house who were, in fact, relatively little (Emma was 6 and Ian was 3). I spent a lot of time with those littles during the day, like so many of you out there do. We all needed a certain amount of activity and routine in our days...the kids needed the rhythm, and I desperately needed to pepper my kid-centric days with some adult interaction. Summer vacations from preschool were a whole different animal. I spent so much time with them throughout the year, and carefully crafted our days to be just the right amount of activity and downtime, that I admittedly looked at summer with a bit of anxiety (no routine? what will we do? will the mom go crazy?). Consequently, some of those summer days were filled with day camps (really half day camps, which meant I had a full day of shuttling kids to and from camp, but that's the way it goes), or days at home filled with me playing with them and trying to keep them engaged (lest the bickering would start).
(a secret forest near our house, shhhh)
Our lives are quite different today. Summer, more than ever, means freedom for kids immersed in schoolwork and organized activities throughout the school year. At 8 and 11, they now have opinions about what they'd like to have happen during our summer vacation. They don't necessarily need me to entertain them (although they still want to hang out with me, which I am so thankful for). There's still that question of what to do though. Emma is most decidedly at a pre-teen stage, bam! right on schedule. I find this shift fascinating as a parent, and a bit challenging. Some days, she proclaims "me time" and wants to spend most of her time in her room, drawing and listening to music and audio books on her I-Dog. Other days she wants time to hang out alone with Peter or with me, which we always try and grant. And on other days she's fully engaged with the entire family, laughing and having fun. I try to respect (and keep up with) her frequent shifts, knowing that its exactly where she's supposed to be developmentally.
(a fun trail we explored last week near MOHAI, that's the University of Washington stadium)
THAT SAID....Emma will attend camp this mid-summer for a full week. A big deal for us all. Last year camp was only 2 nights/3 days and I missed her like crazy, but she's ready for a little independence and I think summer camp creates lifelong memories (take a listen to this American Life episode, I listen to it every year, it makes me want to go to camp!). I think she will be ready for a little time away when mid-summer rolls around. She loves making new friends and experiencing new things, so she's excited and ready for it. She will miss us. And that's a good thing. Plus she's got entering middle school in the Fall in the back of her mind, I am sure. This will be a good diversion.
(I'm writing a note to myself to remember to buy more origami paper...)
And Ian? He would be happy to sit and build with Lego's every.single.day.for.hours. Its his favorite thing and honestly, I don't blame him. The challenge for me as a parent is to balance and ever-so-slightly push him into trying a few new things. Its not his first instinct, but I feel its important for him. Peter and I talk to the kids about summers as being time to try new things "you will have the time to explore something new and fun". I am always so grateful for his newfound patience and openness for new activities, its just finding the right thing (skateboard camp? art? chess? soccer?). We'll see.
I will, as I usually do, share a list of things I will hoard and treat them to during summer in case anyone is interested...books, audio books, art supplies (Peter tells me I need to make a trip to Dick Blick), day trips, days doing nothing. Look for that soon, I'm already starting. Not to mention the fact that we are lucky to live in a fabulous city, ripe for exploring. (Ice cream often tastes different on the other side of the city.)
The summer shift is one we always grow into, I always need to remember this. We definitely stumble. We definitely have bad days, I will have days when I want to barricade myself in my studio and not talk to anyone. Peter will grow weary of the noise some days (working from home can have its disadvantages during summer). But we always seem to somehow find our rhythm, hit our stride, and get what we want out of those potentially glorious days and nights.
(downtown Seattle. No better place to walk around on a sunny day.)
I found this poem today, (thank you Brian), and I think its sums it all up so well for me.
What about you? If you've read this far, I'd love to hear what your take on "summering" is?
