Image by Rebekka D from Pixabay
By Kelli Bowen
As a parent, I think there are two schools of thought on the end of summer vacation: “Oh no! Where did it go??” and “Thank the freakin STARS!” I am a little of each, but today I’m going to focus on the latter.
THANK GOODNESS summer is about over! Mama needs her routine, or at least as close to a routine as we get. I mean, I don’t have one of those magical summer-off jobs, but trying to keep track of Miss A’s appointments and Miss E’s practices, who has camp this week, who has a dentist appointment, how do I get one to the next town over for a softball game and get the other one down the road to baseball? What time are we having dinner??? Are we having dinner? UFFDA
We had a WONDERFUL babysitter, who the girls adore, and that definitely helps the situation. Thank goodness she was flexible! Can you stay an extra 20 minutes today? Want to go home an hour early today? She has an appointment. You have an appointment? Volleyball tryouts today, but after practice, there’s an open hour and 45 minutes that can cover my meeting…but we made it to the other side with minimal tears and screaming (as far as I’ve been told).
No more trying to remember the last day my children bathed: like with soap and not just counting that they swam around in some form of a body of water. I’ll stop using the chlorine-crunch of their hair to determine time to shampoo and they will just shower because it’s a certain evening…ah…that’s the good stuff. When I can say: “It’s Wednesday. It’s bath night” and not “It’s Wednesday?!? When did you last bathe right?!?”
Summer weekends: we don’t have any free weekends, due to the wedding-reunion-day camp-torture-swim-a-thon-bicentennial-street dance-community days that are scheduled…every…single…Saturday. How does this happen? Are there meetings, that I don’t get invited to, and everyone claims a weekend for their thing that we’re obligated to attend? Do I dress up? Dress down? Do we need shiny shoes? Sandals? Will there be swimming? Do I need sunscreen and bug spray or just sunscreen? Bring a case of water, but don’t leave it in the car. If it gets too hot-the plastic will murder you. Do you know what we need in fall? A sweatshirt-probably with a mascot on it. DONE.
No more wondering who is at my house or where my children are…because they’ll be in school (except for the days that I’ll inevitably forget they don’t have school or they have an early out). No more wondering if the dogs have been let out…because they haven’t. They’re in their crates. Ahhhh sweet structured autumn, come wrap your pumpkin-spice-chai arms around this Mama. I’m ready for you.
Kelli makes her home in Cass County with her husband, two daughters (10 and 7) and two dogs. She works for a regional seed company by day and tries to be an alright mom, wife, friend and writer by night.
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