FEAR and LOATHING summer of 2020

This is it, it’s finally summer—funny it just feels like a Tuesday. With that being said I am ready to have a productive summer if it KILLS me. I have a plan in place, I mean it is at least listed on the fridge…And I am ready for the inevitable push back. The worst part is that is all I have. With no idea what is on the horizon, what do we do next? 

The kids have started to sleep in. It is something I have dreamed of for 15 years. I always envied people who had kids that didn’t pray the sun up. This morning I used it to my advantage and got a nice long walk in. I came home to find the oldest offspring making his breakfast at 7:25 a.m. I worried I had unknowingly stepped into some sort of space time continuum. We had a nice chat about Jerry Springer over his highly nutritious strawberry pop tart. Considering he rarely comes out of his room, I saw it as a victory for the day, although hoping I didn’t peak too early.

I remember summers as a kid. Leaving the house in the morning and only coming home for maybe lunch, being outdoors all day. Riding bikes around my block for countless hours, I wasn’t allowed to leave the block. The only time to come home was when someone yelled my name out the back door. We don’t live on a block, but we do have creeks, woods, waterfalls and “the vine” as it is called. I have never actually laid eyes on it, but hours of fun on it turn into muddy children very quickly. Sadly, Nora hasn’t mastered it, so she averages about 4 changes of clothes a day…that reminds me I have laundry to fold.

I am most determined to have my kids LEARN something this summer. With the library closed (I am old school, I like to hold a book), it is going to be tricky. We do have some online learning we will be doing, or at least it is on the list. I envy mothers who are more regimented than myself. Some who know me would say that is a hilarious comment. I mean mothers who can keep their kids easily motivated to learn anything during the summer. With my kids it would be easier to shave their heads and join a cult…maybe I should add that to my list, hmmm.

I thought to myself this morning walking, you are a CHUMP! The last two months distance learning should have taught me something. It was nice to have a mapped out daily curriculum, even if it was accomplished under groans and growls. Dang it, I had it made and I didn’t even know it! All the old motivations are not “social distance” friendly today. I am sure I am not alone when I say I LOATHE those words. Actually, that is exactly what it should be called, “The FEAR and LOATHING summer of 2020.”

Then I remembered talking to Atticus the other day, and as most conversations with an eight year old, it was quite enlightening. We were talking all about how this summer was going to look and what he liked best about summer time. He keeps it simple. Swimming, playing, catching fireflies, riding his bike and wearing his bathing suit the entire time is his idea of the perfect summer. He has it all figured out, and he’s eight. So, I plan to pray, exercise, keep a smile on my face and possibly a virtual cocktail in my hand dreaming of beaches…Here’s to a summer of learning something and keeping it simple.