Here we go again....

Today was my last day of freedom before summer vacation.

I think those of us who have glimpsed the horror that is me during summer vacation understand why this is momentous.

Yes, I'm planning some things to do with the kids. Yes, they're older now and easier. Yes, I know this isn't my most becoming trait.

But I didn't wear black all week with a veil to cover my grieving face. I didn't plant a faux grave in the front yard with a headstone reading: 'My Freedom' and spend a couple of hours crying over it. I also didn't make a paper chain symbolizing every day of summer vacation we have to get through...or...."enjoy".

I think I deserve credit. (I may still make the paper chain later...but I promise I'll keep it under my bed so the kids don't know I'm counting down to the first day of school.

Summer is one of those times I wish I was that other kind of parent.

I am not the kind of parent who enjoys summer vacation. Though I will enjoy the break from making Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches every single morning for Maddie.

That feeling will probably last 2-3 days.

Then I'll be back to wondering how I'm going to burn 30-40 hours of daylight. About 30% of those hours will be spent berating myself for not being that other kind of parent. So that's something "pleasant".

Tomorrow morning Maddie "graduates" from elementary school. On a walk today to get dinner, just the two of us, she asked me if I was going to cry at the ceremony or feel sad.

I told her no, I didn't think so. I told her how, in every stage of her life so far, from the time she was a tiny baby, I've been excited to see what comes next. I've tried to enjoy every stage we've gone through (some I've enjoyed more than others) and I haven't clung to any of the stages she's gone through.

As her mom I get to experience all these new things with her. I got to see what It was like to be pregnant with her. I got to see what it's like to have a baby who crawls. I got to see what it was like to throw a birthday party for a one year old. I got to see what it was like to take my little girl to school for the first time.

Everything I've done as a mother I've gotten to do with her first. I'm excited to see what it's like to watch my baby graduate from elementary school tomorrow. And I'm excited to watch her go on to middle school.

And I'm really excited to see how we make it through summer vacation in one piece.

Comments

[nelking]

I am like you. I've never been that parent, the one that entertains. Yet, I've loved every milestone and haven't looked back. Embrace your angst, you're not alone. I have two great high schoolers. It's possible.

I didn't go into 5th grade graduation thinking I'd cry, but I did with both kids. Surprised the hell out of me.

[Liza]

Oy, don't remind me! We have 4 days now until the end of kindergarten. What in the hell am I going to do with my son during the summer? I am so not that kind of mom.

I love your answer to Maddie - even the "not that kind of mother" nails it sometimes. Beautiful.

We have kindy graduation tomorrow (seriously?) - I don't know if I'll cry or not.

[Alana]

As a teacher I was always so excited for the end of the school year; no more students, lesson plans, behavior issues, etc. I looked forward to summer as a time to relax, read, sleep late, and focus on me instead of the 90 little people who I was responsible for at school.

For the first few years, my son went to daycare most days during the summer, to keep his spot and give me time to shop and scrapbook. The summer before kindergarten, I decided to keep him home with me. Gone were the lunches with friends, the solo shopping trips, the days where I lied on the couch all day, reading. Now, I had to entertain a very energetic little boy all day long! It was either let him stay home in front of the TV all day, or pester me, since none of the millions of toys in his room were remotely fascinating to him anymore. We bought passes to the local pools that summer, and used them as much as possible. It's too hot down here to go outside during the day, unless you intend to get wet.

We joined Cub Scouts the summer after my son's kindergarten year, and went to a week of day camp there. I ended up on bedrest thanks to that jaunt through the woods, and in the hospital a month later for gallstones. Anyway, my son went to VBS for two different religions that summer (not ours), just to get him out of the house.

Last summer, I kept Zoe in daycare for part of the summer, Zach went to VBS at our church, then science camp for a week at another church. Besides that, we had the Wii to entertain him.

This summer, Zoe is with me the whole time. Zach will spend a couple of weeks with my parents, and during one of those weeks, they'll make a trip to Tennessee. I have a three week summer course that I am taking, so Zoe will be in campus daycare, and Zach will be there some of the time. It's the best I can do.

***Pardon me if this does not make any sense whatsoever. I've had an Ambien, and am feeling very relaxed right now.

[Grace]

I'm not one of those "entertaining" Moms either. My kids have been out of school for a month already. ARGH! Thank goodness they're sleeping in later than when they're in school otherwise I'd be totally batty!

[Jen]

I am not that kind of Mom, either. You have my greatest sympathies and understanding. Mine are now in middle school. While they aren't complete loners, they aren't the popular ones either.

No large groups of friends. The ones they do have are from primarily divorced families anyway, so we don't see them much outside of school.

I am torn between dreading this summer, and looking forward to spending time with my growing adolescents. They're starting to be people a bit.

Last night we talked politics out on the deck while we alternated studying for finals and playing some hands of rummy.

I've taught my kids that the world is full of liars and thieves, and also how to gamble, all in one shot.

I'm a crappy Mom

[homeslice]

i win mother of the year award for yesterday. the tv babysat my 6 year old while i worked for the majority of the morning. yeah, summer is not fun. thank god for summer camps. maybe i should learn how to do art projects with my kids :-)

[Samantha]

I didn't cry with my first one, sniffled a bit, I guess. I did cry when we took her to college for the first time & left her there. But my second one...crying all the freakin time. It's your last day of middle school graphic arts? sniff, sniff. She graduates from 8th grade next week and I fully expect to be sporting a whole box of kleenex. The thing I finally figured out is that it's not about her, it's about me. This latest transition to being a high schooler means that I am officially not a mom of little kids anymore. And never will be again. While I was kind of schizo as to whether I was That Kind of Mom (mostly yes, occasionally no) and love having interesting, independent kids...it does mean I'm getting older. Perhaps even just 'old'.

Adjusting your self-perception and dreams in your 40s is hard. Cliched, but hard.

[cjh]

I'm not a parent (yet). I'm not sure what kind of parent you are but the talk with Maddie at the end? It may not make you THAT parent but it sure makes you a good one.

[ella]

Wow! I can't believe she's going to be in middle school.
She is really becoming an amazing person!
I think she had a little help from you.

[Amy]

I wish I had your perspective on the growing up, graduation, firsts-in-life things.

My oldest and youngest graduated from 5th grade and kindergarten last year, within two days of each other. I was a sniffling, snotty mess for a week.

Now that we're having baby #4 (oops! THAT birth control method doesn't work...), we'll have the oldest leaving for college and the baby starting kindergarten at the same time. That will probably put me in the hospital.

[kate]

I knew, from very early on, that I could never be a work-at-home-mom. Even if we could have afforded it, I knew I'd go bat-shit crazy being home all day.

So I go to work every day talk to adults; during the summer, we have a 24yo sitter/nanny who is a teacher during the year. She LOVES going to the pool, the parks, on treasure hunts, bike riding etc. And I get to come home and hear all about it and then I have the energy to thoroughly enjoy every minute with my daughter in the evenings and on the weekends.

Could you maybe hire someone a day or 3 a week to at least break up the monotony a little bit? I highly recommend it! :)

[Deena]

I'm not great at the entertaining either but I am very very lucky that I have a girlfriend who is. She plans trips every Thursday, play time on Saturdays, and sets up babysitters at her house twice a month so all the moms can go out to lunch together, also pool Tuesdays. We used to be a small group but now there are around 30 of us who do these activities. We would be lost without her. You need an Anita to do your planing for you.

[Peeved Michelle]

My kids are still in the toddler and fetus groups so I don't have first hand experience with summer entertaining, but I don't quite understand why there is so much pressure. I don't recall anyone doing anything to entertain me when I was kid. We'd go to the beach on the weekends and take a week or two of vacation out of town, but other than that, I was on my own. Summers make me think of playing outside all day with my cousins or neighborhood kids or by myself. I ran through sprinklers. I rode my bike. I watched TV. I read books. I played games. I went to friends' houses. I never did a single project with a parent.

[Kate]

I'm not really that kind of mom either.

But you know what? I would trade places with you in a heartbeat.

Because being home for the entire summer with my kids is 100 times better than having to come to work every day.

Try to look at it that way: You are self employed and have the flexibility to make your own hours. Many of us are not that lucky and are stuck at our jobs.

[MelissaS]

Kate, I hope you realize how lucky you are and spend time looking at that rather than focusing on what you don't have. I'm sorry you don't get to be home with your kids all summer if that's what you'd like. I hope some day you can make that happen for yourself.

Michelle, that's how it was in our old neighborhood. Not enough kids here to do that and school friends are at day camps and the like.

If I don't want to hear whining and have bored insane kids on my hands I've got to do something with them. Just the way it is in this neighborhood.

[AmyinMotown]

Feel sorry for meeeeeee....I have a four year old starting kindergarten in the fall and a one year old. Everything fun to do with a four year old is not appropriate or a huge pain in the ass with a not yet walking one year old, and everything that would be a blast with the one year old is not appropriate for the four year old. One of them just ends up getting very little attention when I am with the other one. And we have very few other kids our daughter's age in the neighborhood and the ones that are have moms and dads that work out of the house so they aren't home when I am climbing the walls.

I actually like projects, etc. (although I am not That Mom either, who gets joy out of hanging with her kids all day) but my son's too little to do the stuff I would like to with my daughter and as a matter of fact is at the age where he's all "Crayons! Beads! Choking hazards of all types! Yummy!"The only thing they both love is the park. I HATE THE PARK.

So, um, lots of venting to say I understand :-). Luckily we have my dad available to take them for a few hours a couple days a week and a really good little sitter a few blocks away.

[Kristy from AZ]

My son has been out of school now for a month already. I stay home with my kids ages 10 and 2. I also watch my cousins kids who are 8 and 2. So I have all 4 of them this summer. I don't really enjoy the summer vacation either except this year we are going away for 3 weeks in July. I wake up everyday and wonder what to do with the kids. So far it has been fine. I get through each day as it comes. We don't do something everyday. We have friends over and go to the splash pads at the park. I am getting to the point were I would like to return to work full time. I don't want to put my youngest in daycare though. I have been a SAHM for 10 yrs. now.

[MelissaS]

amy, I remember that time very very very well. It was awful.

Glad I'm through that at least. It doesn't get necessarily better, just different.

[Courtney]

Maybe things were different 20 years ago when I was 9,but I don't remember my mom entertaining us all day long. We rode around the neighborhood on our bikes with our friends all morning, we came home for lunch, and I played at the city pool all afternoon. She did drive us to and from things like swimming lessons and baseball practice, but we pretty much played with our friends.

Again, it was a smaller town and things were a little more "lax" (I remember riding my bike home from a friend's house, late at night, after watching a scary movie, with my brother, who was 8. I was 7. Parents would NEVER let that happen now. Sad, but true). We had a lot of freedom to explore in the summer, and it is sad that kids don't have that anymore.

[Elise]

Yeah, I grew up in the 70s and my mom never put up with a second of the four of us whining about being bored. Nor did she provide elaborate crafts, camps, museum trips (not her fault, none in our small town) etc. She just sent us out the door in the morning and told us not to come home until lunch time. And, it was wonderful, we really did make our own fun, building forts, making up games to play, reading and occaisonally being dropped off at the pool for the afternoon. So, don't feel guilty that you are not "that mom" who loves hanging with her kids. Consider giving yourself permission to stop faking it and empower your kids to entertain themselves. I too did not have the perfect childhood (there was divorce, depression and alcoholism) but I do have wonderful memories of long summer days and endless possibilities.

[aimee]

Is that 30-40 hrs of daylight each day? Sure feels like it some days! Good luck to all of us!

[AC Siapno]

It is interesting that she asked you if you'd be sad, I'm not sure at that age I had a concept of how my mom felt about my stages of life...

As for summer vacation - do your children know how lucky they are and that they should savor every moment before being thrusted into the work place? Can you tell I was once a teacher and miss my summers off? LOL

[Penny]

I remember my mixed feelings about summers. Some days were wonderful and fun filled. Others were a nightmare of endless demands! My three girls are all reaching adulthood and I do miss some of the fun times, zoo's and playgrounds with friends and their kids. Now my girls are fun to go shopping with, out to eat or just sit at the bookstore with and pour over magazines. I really enjoy my time with my girls now! It is hard when they are small. Hang in there. Love your blog.

[amy]

Do they sleep in yet? Cause that is a bonus having my 3 home for the summer. They have also learned to NOT wake Mom up unless someone is choking or the house is on fire.

Mine are 16 and twins 11. This is the summer I TEACH them how to do really creative stuff like clean the bathroom, sweep, actually LOAD the dishwasher and fold clothes. Seriously. They DO need to learn this stuff and I REFUSE to spend the summer picking up after them and entertaining them. They will pull their own weight and be entertained when they EARN IT! (Yeah, in a really foul mood tonight, can you tell? :)

That said they are not hard done by, have a pool, tramp and volleyball/badminton court in the back yard and friends in the neighborhood.

All the best and hoping yours too sleep in.

[Elizabeth Hubbard]

Hi. I am a lurker who enjoys your writing style. I've only commented once but I couldn't contain myself this time. I consider myself "That Kind of Mom." I wish you would email me every day or so and I could suggest fun things to do. They don't always have to be PROJECTS. I absolutely LOVE summer vacation and I studiously avoid camps, even though almost all my kids' friends "do" camp.

I just think it's great not to have to rush all the time and be "on." During the summer we go with the flow. Some days we rush around and "do" stuff but many days I read and the kids play until they run out of things to do and then we either come up with something new or I let them watch t.v.

Seriously, if you want to be "pen pals" I could help you be "That Kind of Mom" occasionally! Enjoy these summers because soon they'll be gone!

[lisa]

I'll just cry for you... it's what I do. I cry at everything. I cry at every school function, I cry when I hear children sing at chorus, I cry at movies (happy and sad). I'm a sap.

[Dana V.]

In an attempt to be "that mom" yesterday, I took my 6 year-old and my 2 year-old to the library. I WILL NEVER DO THAT AGAIN! F that noise... we have enough books.

Hang in there!

[Emma]

I wish I were "that mom" but it's just not in me. My two year old is fun for the first hour he wakes up, then I get anxious. Growing up, I was thrown out of the house all day during the summer, but we had a neighborhood full of kids. I worry I'll be that parent who is concerned about mass murderers, kidnappers, and deer ticks every time my kid steps outside by himself. Made crazy if he stays in, made crazy if he goes out. You can't win.

[Pattie]

I am glad to see that I am not the only one who feels this way about summer time. I can't stand it. For one thing we are totally broke right now so we will be doing lots of free stuff! But that doesn't stop my kids from asking me almost everyday if we can go to a movie, the museum, to Hawaii or Disneyland!! Drives me crazy!!

[Vanessa]

My daughter is Maddie's age and an only child. I got that panicked feeling often when she was younger -- she'd get up, we'd have breakfast, play with toys, watch TV, do some coloring, and then I'd look at the clock and it would only be ten a.m. Forget filling the hours until bedtime, I couldn't even fill the hours until lunch! And I worked full-time outside the home (still do), so I only had to worry about weekends.

Ironically, now that she's older and is a really fun companion, she's gotten so good at entertaining herself that I have trouble getting her to stop. Weekends usually find me saying "Put down the Nintendo/computer/book! Let's go out and DO something!" and her saying "Awww, do we have to?" I can't win.

[Lauren]

I sooooo feel you on this. Long, long time reader here--I may have commented once or twice before. We live in NYC and my daughter will be done with second grade next Friday. I work full-time, so I don't get (have?) to be home with her in the summer, but sometimes I cringe just thinking about the weekends. Things MUST be organized here in the city--no backyard to play in safely, and I wouldn't think of sending her to the park on her own, although our 'hood is very safe. Sometimes I just want her to grow up so she can make her own damn fun! Entertaining kids is difficult...kudos to the moms who do it and do it well. I'd like my summers off, too, but I'd spend them with a book in one hand and a margarita in another. ;)

[Kelbelle]

Ya know that Staples back-to-school commercial where the Dad runs JOYously through the aisles gathering school supplies to the tune of "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year."? Love that one. Heh.

See? You're not alone?

[Kelbelle]

Also, I AM that Mom, but work full-time, and I only envy my SAH friends until we hit a 3-day weekend. Then I am ready to go back to work.

[Teri]

I don't have kids yet, but someday hope to. I loved this post and the comments because it calms my fears that it's essential to be THAT KIND OF MOM to successfully parent children, when I don't know if I will be or not. I highly doubt it, and it's made me wonder if I should even have kids. But seeing all the comments makes me realize that everyone parents differently and it's okay to not be a mom who is content to be with and entertain her kids 24/7. I can still work, no one will put me in jail if I put my kids in daycare a couple of days a week, even! And they just may not turn out to be career criminals! ;)

[Emmy]

You could send them to Boulder to Camp Emmy! I always need someone to hike and run around with because my roomies are too hungover... Okay, maybe not the most appropriate kid environment. But I'm sure Aunt Jean would love to have them!

[Coma Girl]

I'm with you. Forget universal healthcare, I'm pushing for a 12-month school year.

[Alana]

Creagray, I am the one who posted that I sent my son to daycare to scrapbook and shop. I don't think I suck as a mother, and in my defense, I had taken an Ambien that night to try to counteract my insomnia, so pardon me if my comment was not very PC.

What I meant to say was that I miss doing those things that are just for me, because I used to have some free time, and those were the things that I used to enjoy doing. I didn't spend every summer scrapbooking and shopping, but it was an option that I had if I wanted it. My son had to stay in daycare during the summer so I could keep his spot when I was working during the school year. He didn't go every day, but I had to pay for it whether he went or not.

I wouldn't trade my kids for the world, but I don't get time off from them but once every six months or so, and it's exhausting to chase a 20-month-old around all the time and keep her from climbing and getting into things. I am someone who enjoys being alone, and the only time I am alone is on my way to and from work, which is about ten minutes each way. I have worked with kids as a teacher for the past nine years, so there is not much time in my life away from children.

I don't apologize for not being one of those mothers who constantly comes up with crafty ideas. I am busy studying to be a nurse, so I can give my kids a better life. Maybe I'll miss out on some things for the next two years, but I think my kids deserve a mother who is happy and has a career that she is proud of.

I also don't have friends to go out and get drunk with, not that that is something that remotely appeals to me.

[paiget]

Melissa,
This is our third summer together. Sorry I didn't get you a card, but I'm not that kind of anonymous internet fan. When you introduced me to the idea of "burning daylight", my life was transformed. I began to apply this concept to my days and I feel like I coped so much better. Somedays I still feel like the kids treat me like a dancing bear, but for the most part the 11 weeks (and one day, but who's counting) go smoothly.

[IzzyMom]

Your daughter's going in to middle school? Holy shit! I totally didn't know that.

[creagray]

So glad to see that people who do not agree with you are allowed to voice their opinons....oh wait, I am until you read my post and delete it. So you put your views out there, but then refuse to hear or print anything in disagreement with those views? Coma Girl, I respect the fact that you responded to me and explained yourself a bit better. I apologize for saying you suck as a mother, you don't. In your first post it sounded as if you had no job and simply used the time your son spent in daycare to pamper yourself, everyday. Good luck with becoming a nurse, it is a difficult job, but a rewarding one. I am sure this post will be deleted before you get a chance to read this so hopefully you check often.

[creagray]

oh hell, not comagirl, Alana, sorry.

[Sharon]

I don't blame you one bit for feeling that way. I think people who say they enjoy being "that other kind of parent" 24/7 are being dishonest. I feel like you do about the long days to fill and I only have to fill weekends! Good luck with your summer.

[MelissaS]

cReagray,

I deleted your comment because you didn't just disagree you called a reader a bad mother because she held he kid's spot in daycare while she was on maternity leave.

You were not here to thoughtfully disagree, you were here to pass judgment and feel superior to other mothers who have a different experience of motherhood than your own.

There is nothing to disagree with. I'm not a fan of spending all day wert day with the kids bored with nothing to do. It doesn't make anyone a bad mother, it means it's not the same as the way you feel about motherhood.

I could tell you I think you're small minded and simple for loving every second of every day of the summer, but that would be hateful and also not true.

I delete whatever I choose. Hateful spewing at anyone isn't acceptable here. It's easy to start your own blog and run it exactly as you see fit.

[caro]

Thanks for being honest about not loving summer. My kids aren't in school yet, so I haven't experienced summer this way yet, but I can see where you're coming from. It amazes me that "that other kind of mother" sees this so differently. It's like two different worlds. I wonder if it all comes down to introversion/extroversion or how much alone time we need.

Er, I mean, it must be that we are unfit mothers, undeserving of the love of our children...

[Jennifer]

I don't really have any mothering time off yet because my two youngest (2 and 3) are not in school yet. BUT, having my 7 year old home from school for the summer makes me feel a lot busier. I'm not really THAT MOM either. The little ones are happy with each other's company and simple outings. My oldest gets bored easily hanging out with "the babies".

I've decided to make a schedule of outings to break up the summer. Some of them are kind of dumb, like BBQ lunch at grandparents', LOL. It's something for them to look forward to at least.

I hoping that the kids remember summer as being a lot of fun. I'm working hard to make it that way!

[FlippyO]

Sometimes reading about burning daylight makes me SO glad I don't have any kids. I definitely wouldn't be the mom who planned all kinds of projects. I'd want to be the rich mom, who could afford a fun nanny, but I'd hang out with them, too...but the nanny would have to do all of the planning. Although, being a lesbian & all, at least I could marry (well, in certain states & countries) "that mom". Hmm, I wonder if it's easier with two moms, since the moms seem to be stuck with daylight burning.

Do any of you have husbands/boyfriends/partners who take over during the summer? I mean, I know of one mommyblogger whose husband does lots of the kidcare (I don't want to mention names if she doesn't want to be known as "not that mom", although she's written it herself), so there have to be some men out there (other than gay couples where there are only men to choose from) who take over. I know my dad didn't, but I don't feel like my mom planned out our summers much either. She was the mom who had the "non-birthday parties" for the neighborhood kids with the cool clown cake (remember how its nose used to be a rubber ball, then went to plastic, then went to half a plastic ball, and then finally was just boring frosting?) from the grocery store, but she didn't really plan out other things for us. Hmmm, I guess by the time I came around (my brothers are all 5-10 years older than I am), our summer pattern was already set. And, by the time I was around 9, my summers mostly revolved around softball, and that kept up until my early 20's. What a surprise that I'm a lesbian, huh?

As a non-mom, who could certainly sit here and judge, because wouldn't I just be the most awesomely perfect mom, if I was a mom? Anyway, none of you sound like bad moms. Kids need to learn to use their imaginations, and I really hate to see over-scheduled kids because I feel like they're going to be adults who don't know how to be happy unless they're being entertained by other people constantly.

[Candace]

I'm not necessarily "that mom" but I don't mind taking my kids to Coney Island (Cincinnati) and letting them run wild while I read a book in the shade. Of course, mine are older and it took a bit of work to get to this stage.

Unfortunately, though, this summer we're in London. Oh sure, sounds great. It sucks. Imagine taking your kids away from everything they know and only letting them take entertainment that can fit in a backpack (because I'll be damned if I'm carrying their crap around; I have enough of my own stuff). Sucks. Yeah, yeah, we're in London, blah blah blah. It's expensive, it's loud, and they're completely out of their element. And I'm ON. Every waking minute. It's not like that at home.

So, feel free to use me as your mantra this summer: "At least I'm not stupid enough to take the kids to London." Over and over. Should make you feel better! Me? I'm counting the days till we fly home.

[Sara]

The best thing we did was join a small, private pool. I throw the kids in their suits, slather on sunscreen and pack a book for me and sit there and read all afternoon while they play. Seriously, that is pretty much all we do.

My oldest brings her book with her as well. My middle one is the social butterfly and always has some friend or another to play with. The three year old entertains himself - befriending the lifeguards, swimming around the wading pool.

Mind, this isn't a large, public pool. Our municipality's pool is hellacious. If we go there (pretty much no longer an option since mom is mean), I spend the entire time chasing them. Ugh. The private pool we joined is nothing fancy - 25 yards long, one diving board and a wading pool.

Obviously, it isn't free, though once you pay the joining fee the yearly amount for a family is comparable to season passes at the public pool. And it is so worth it.

[Nancy]

I, too, am not that kind of mother.

Our kids (8 and 5 yrs old) finish school on Thursday. We live in Toronto, in an old semi-detached house with no backyard to speak of. Municipal workers are on strike so city-run summer camps, wading pools and sports programs (among other things) are cancelled for now - if they strike long enough, camps will be cancelled for the entire summer, and parks will slowly fill with garbage.

As salt in the wound, our liquor stores may strike at midnight tonight.

God help me.

[Andrea]

Amen, sister. I am a stay at home mom for right now, and I adore my kids, who are mostly well-behaved and reasonable, but my, do I hate summer break. I dislike summer even without kids, to be frank. And, I just like having my day compartmentalized into "with kids time" (park, pool, library, playdates, etc.) and "without kids" time (chores, housework, appointments, time with other adults), and in summer it's all "with kids" time. Plus there's more mess, since we're home more, more laundry because of all the swimming, and bedtime gets pushed back way too often. It's hellish hot where we live, too. I mapped it out this year...it's 91 days, and I am counting.

[Michelle]

Three cheers for the BORED BOX!!

http://kidoinfo.com/ri/the-bored-box/