May 17, 2005
I’ll be loading the freezer with vodka soon
In what I have been cheerfully referring to as ‘a fit of drunken insanity’, I have decided to forgo ALL childcare this summer and hang out with my kids ALL THE TIME. No one will go to school or Day Out; instead, we will have swim lessons at the club and long naps and martinis at 4:00 every day (and I don’t even drink martinis! nor do my kids! whoo hoo!).
And now, as the actual start of this Festival of Preschooler Bonding nears (Charlie’s last day of school is Monday; Henry’s is next Thursday), I am beginning to wonder WHAT THE HELL I WAS THINKING.
Here’s what I was thinking: I was remembering all those summers when my brother and I were kids, and we stayed home and hung out with my mom, and went to the park and the pool and ran in the sprinklers and had playdates (although I don’t think we called them ‘playdates’ in the ’70’s). We never went to Day Out or camp or daycare; we didn’t have sitters who came full-time to play with us while my mother ran errands. We hung around in our pyjamas and ate our breakfast in the family room and our lunch in the back yard. We built cities out of Lincoln Logs and climbed trees and drew pictures in the driveway with chalk. We read books and played baseball and tennis and rode our bikes. My dad travelled a lot for work, so we really did spend all that time with my mom.
And I was thinking how much I loved that, and how much I loved my mom, and how much fun it would be to do that with my kids, especially now, when the world is so different and parents feel like every spare moment of their childrens’ days must be jam-packed with educational activities. I don’t want to spend my summer driving the boys from one lesson to another; I want them to enjoy being kids. I want them to chase bugs and build forts and turn the stereo up so we can dance. I want them to play so hard every day that they fall into bed at 7:30, exhausted. I want them to remember, thirty five years from now, how much fun we had in the summer. And I was thinking that it would be great if I could be that mom, the one I remember from my childhood, just for this one summer.
As much as I want that, now that I am faced with the reality of an ENTIRE SUMMER with my kids, I’m a little nervous. Okay, a LOT nervous. WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO ALL DAY? And how am I going to keep from loosing my mind?
I wonder if my mom worried about this.
Posted by Susan @ 9:15 am • Uncategorized
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May 17th, 2005 at 1:51 pm, ieatcrayonz Says:
All I can say is, spend a lot of time outside so that house stays CLEAN! I don’t know if the boys like the zoo, but you can get a Tulsa Zoo 1 year family pass for $60. I can use it at a lot of zoos around the nation as well. The OKC zoo weirded out on the program, so I’m not sure what they’re doing now.
You sound like you had a ball growing up. I guess you always assume your parents are having just as much fun as you are when all they really want is a few aspirin and a nap.
I grew up in Mustang (west of the airport.) Some of my fondest memories were spent at White Water, Frontier City, and going fishing and camping. You don’t really hit me as the camping type, though. If you like hiking though, I recommend Robber’s Cave State Park in Wilburton. They’ve got a bat cave. The boys would surely love that! To the Batmobile!
I admire you. I’d love to spend the summer at home with Lauren. I know that the boys have to be 1,000 times harder, but I’m sure that they will appreciate the memories you create this summer. Can’t wait to hear how it goes.