Archives for June 2013

Remember when Daniel didn’t like his outdoor adventure camp?  Well, the best thing I ever did was switch him to a LEGO camp.  He spends three hours a day INSIDE A SCHOOL CLASSROOM. BUILDING LEGOS. FOR THREE HOURS.

He couldn’t be happier.

A Sunday evening. The sun going down.  A shady seat.  A cold beer and a hot dog.  The constant sounds of bats cracking and kids laughing.  Hanging with my family at a baseball game.  It doesn’t get much better. I heart America.

Wow, summer has really thrown me for a loop.  That’s what happens when I spend the entire school year organized and scheduled.  I mean scheduled to the “every-thirty-minutes” scheduled.  I was so happy when my kids’ last day of school finally arrived so I could toss it all out the window and just exhale.  No schedules.

But that’s not how I operate and I should know better.  As soon as the first non-scheduled day started, I felt “out of whack.”  Don’t get me wrong, it’s a fun “out of whack.”  Like sleeping later, making scrambled eggs for breakfast every day, deciding to throw on the swimsuit and go to the pool for an hour whenever we feel like it, all that good stuff.   I don’t have to worry about dinner times or bedtimes as much anymore.  It’s liberating.  A little.

I thrive so much on schedules that it’s a struggle for me to relax when everything goes off schedule. And it’s a challenge when I have to fit in all the personal projects I work on like this blog and Pop Kids Report.  Then there’s that dreaded laundry, which I’m not exaggerating when I tell you that my son had to wear regular clothes to bed last night because no PJs were clean. I just feel so completely disorganized.  I know it’s bad when I haven’t even filled in my July family calendar.  It’s our Bible for who’s doing what, when, and where.  Instead, everything currently sits on sticky notes, scraps of ripped paper, or in my scattered brain.

I know I need to relax. It’s SUMMER!  I just need to let it go.  I was relieved when both kids had Vacation Bible School camp for half days last week. That was great.  I could get back to a bit of a routine. After that, Daniel was signed up for a brand new outdoor adventure camp.  He was looking forward to it for months.  The description said there would be archery! And kayaking! And snow cones every afternoon!  He was stoked.  Daniel is my sensitive soul and he was nervous on the first day. I expected that because he had no friends going with him. And he handled it like a champ at drop off.  But at pick up I could tell he was not himself. He just looked so SAD.  He barely spoke.  He finally told me he spent the entire day attached to one of the junior counselors because most of the kids already knew each other.  He said there was NO archery and NO kayaking.  (Which I’m sure were just reserved for later days in the week.)  There WAS a snow cone (0h, thank goodness), but that was his only highlight.  A snow cone.  And that was all he could say he enjoyed from the experience.  (The not-so-inexpensive-experience, might I add.) I don’t want my kid to be SAD.  It’s summer! So I took him out.  I confess. I did. He’s a good kid who is always involved in things during the school year. And it’s summer!  He’s supposed to be relaxed and have fun!  It was a bit selfish too.  I did not want to sit home worrying every day for two weeks about my kid not having fun.  So he’s been home all week waiting for the LEGO camp to start. (Definitely more his speed.)

Then add in that our private swim coach broke her ankle.  This was our second swim coach.  (The first one moved.)  And I loved her!  She was so great with my daughter who really needs that pushing and tough love.  So I’m searching for a new swim coach to throw us back into some type of routine.

So the daily chores are piling up.  I’m neglecting my work.  My kid hated camp.  We’re not taking swimming lessons.  And I haven’t even mentioned that we’re trying to rearrange some of our summer vacation, I got majorly cursed out by a crazy driver yesterday, and we all need haircuts.  I finally decided (on this first OFFICIAL day of summer) that I need to take my husband’s advice and focus on the positive.  So here it goes:  I love the beach and I’ve had two amazing days at the beach already.  The first was a romantic overnight date with my husband where we stayed oceanfront, ordered room service, got a massage, and just relaxed.  And then we had a super fun family day at the beach on Father’s Day.  We spent the entire day on the sand and in the water.  It was perfection.

And I won’t even mention the sunburns.  Oops.

Daniel’s last days as a Kindergartner were action-packed.  Not only did he learn to read this year, but he went to his very first PGA golf tournament and on his very first father/son camping trip.

Now back to that reading part.  It really is amazing to witness the light bulb going off.  He would spend one week struggling with a few words and sounds and then, just three weeks later, he’s reading paragraphs.  He reads books in every room in the house.  I will wake up in the morning and he will already have his bedroom light on while reading a book in his pajamas.  I sometimes just watch him from the door crack as his eyes scan the pages.  It’s truly an honor to witness.  (Not to sound cheesy but, hey, I’m his Mama.)

I was Daniel’s Homeroom Mom again this year.  He had an awesome group of kids in his class and one dedicated teacher.  She really took all the children under her wing and she helped Daniel come out of his shell.  He read aloud to the class many times.  He can now write sentences.  He continues to be my little artist and he loves P.E. class.  He learned tons of Spanish words, played instruments in music class, and went to a museum, a musical, and a farm for his field trips.  He also took an extra Math class after school and completed three new levels.  He loves baseball and finished off his final T-ball season this Spring. This Fall he’ll start fast pitch. That’s also when he’ll enter his first official “number grade.”  I’m so very proud of this kid.