By MAD21
Summer. In our corner of the world it means hot and humid, thunderstorms, green grass and beautiful flowers and plants. But for me, summer means a whole lot more.
It means time.
Growing up and even during my young adulthood I remember people around me always talking about loving summer, not the season per se, but the time of year. Honestly, I never really understood it. Obviously as a child I loved summer because it meant no school and sometimes a family vacation, but in all the years leading up to parenthood, summer was just like any other time... just hotter. Work schedules and extracurricular activities continued on throughout the year without much thought.
Until this past year…
I am entering a different phase of parenthood. We are past the years of potty training and strollers, bottles and baby food, and teaching our girls to walk and talk. My oldest was in half-day Kindergarten last year and my youngest in a three-year-old Pre-K class two mornings a week. We had soccer, gymnastics and horse-riding lessons, along with birthday parties, play dates and homework. The end of the school year was so busy for us I don’t even remember May.
My perception of summer has changed. I was so happy for its arrival this year. It has a familiar feel, just like it did when I was a child looking forward to what I now recognize as lack of demand. We are almost mid-way through July and I’m finding myself wishing time would slow down even more. Why is it when you are an adult time seems to move so fast?
I love being a stay-at-home-mom. Even with the frustrating days of temper tantrums, piles of laundry and dishes, never getting a “day off,” and running everyone around to where they need to go. I love it. I love being with my family and running the household. This year, summer means I have more control over our schedule and when we have to be places. We get to choose which fun things we want to do over the next several weeks and which days we can stay home and do nothing (well, in concept anyway).
My 24-year-old niece came to visit us for a few days last week and my oldest decided to make a list of things she wanted to do with her during her stay. It was fun to see what she decided was most important for us to get done in that time. Several of her items were food-related: “Go to Chick-Fil-A; Go to Rita’s; Get a snowball.” But the one that was really telling was: “Lounge.” As much fun as we have doing all the things we do during the summer, it’s good to see that even my kids know the importance of rest… of not doing anything.
I have to be honest and say that I am not looking forward to my kids being in school all day. My oldest will be in school until 3:00 every day and my youngest will be in a four-year-old Pre-K class three mornings a week. I know they will miss being with me, but they also LOVE school. And even though my heart will ache not having them with me, I know this is as it should be. And I will go into the coming year doing the mommy-thing, encouraging their independence and loving on them every opportunity I can.
This is the phase of life when we need to focus on the quality of our time together, realizing that the quantity of time will get less and less in the coming years. Time for me to grow in my own discipline of making sure I’m not spending all of my time working on something when I could be taking some of that time to just sit on the floor for a game of Slap-Jack, Pictionary, or Connect Four, or create some wonderful far off adventure with dolls, trains and Legos.
Last week while on Twitter Tim Stevens (@timastevens; Leading Smart.com) said something rather remarkable that really stuck with me. He said, “Parenting is slowly preparing and releasing.” There is so much truth in that statement, and words I needed to hear. As this time in my life goes slipping though my fingers, I’m finding myself needing to learn when it’s time to teach and when to let go. I assume I’ll be in this state on various levels for the rest of my life in regards to my kids. I pray for the Lord’s discernment.
As for now, my family is thoroughly enjoying this summer. We have already gone on a trip to the Aquarium, lunches with Daddy, Rita’s, snowballs, swimming and running through the sprinklers. We are still looking forward to swim lessons and our trip to the beach and more time with family and friends. But with the impending date of school starting in September, we will also make sure that we have time to just, “lounge.” I will personally be looking forward to those quiet moments when the girls, my hubby and I can just Be.
Thank God for summer.
This post is a participant in a blog carnival over at Bridget Chumbley's One Word at a Time.
Be sure to go and check out what everyone else wrote on: Summer.