by Cathy
Today, the girls go back to school. I am at once relieved and dare I say, saddened.
This summer, I spent a lot of time with them. This was the result of the constant postponement of vacation plans due to extenuating family and work issues, and because of that, I never ended up putting them in any day camps just in case those vacation plans were to come to fruition - which they never did.
So here now we find ourselves at the end of yet another short-lived summer, one whose carefree days were numbered but still needed to be filled. So my husband and I had to do some entertaining. Okay, a lot of entertaining.
All summer, we felt the guilty, burdening pressure of trying to amuse our kids, to make the summer fun, enjoyable and memorable lest they go back to school and have to sadly respond to all the perky "What did YOU do this summer?" inquisitions with a flat, "Nothing." They need to hold up their end of that conversation with activities they actually had a lot of fun doing. Short of putting on a freaking Cirque du Soleil performance to draw their attention from the electronic gadgetry and the television, we had our work cut out for us.
I passionately loathe it when I see my kids glued to the television and it is a perfectly beautiful summer day in Chicago, a city that lies under snow, ice and blistering winds for nine months out of the year. Yes, after those nine months every year, Chicago gives birth to some rare, gorgeous, sunny weather and by God, we have to take advantage of every God-given beautiful day, because if we don't we will regret it for the rest of our shivering, miserable winter lives.
Combined with the Guilty Weather Days is the fact that summer work schedules for my husband and I are very flexible as to allow for one or even both of us to be home most of the time. Hooray, you say? Well, not if you feel the need to fill every second you're with your bored, eye-rolling kids with promises of fantastical, elaborate plans to appease their summertime appetites.
We should really take them outside and do something. It's a beautiful day!
Let's hop on the train and go downtown!
Let's go shopping!
What did we buy those bikes for?
Where else can we take them besides the park?
When are those free days at the museums?
Who can we set up a playdate with?
We have to take them to some waterparks!
How about the beach? Pack some lunches!
I gotta work from home, can you take them out somewhere?
Have they gotten their summer reading and homework done?
Where the heck are all the board games we bought?
Grab a feather duster and yank out the vacuum - you're cleaning the house!
Throw a tea party!
Build a fort in the living room or have a picnic camp-out!
Where's that tub o' paint and brushes we had? Draw some pictures!
Play with your Barbies!
Where's all that American Girl stuff we paid a fortune for? Play with that!
Get off your iPod!
Get off my iPhone!
Get out there and water the flowers!
Clean your room!
Go jumprope!
Where's your sister? Go play with her!
Stop fighting!
When are you going back to school!?!?
The truth is, they did lots of cool stuff this summer despite the fact that we stuck it out Chi-town style the whole three months. We went to a Cubs game, several waterparks, mini-golfing, multiple playdates with their friends, movies, parks, festivals, gymnastics and volleyball camps, carnivals, beach time galore, air and water shows, shopping, and even a photoshoot!
Needless to say, today we are relieved that we are relieved of these pressure-filled duties and we gladly place that burden upon the shoulders of the private school administrators we pay to do this stuff for us. I know I will feel a twinge of loneliness because it will be waaaayy too quiet around the house when they will be in school and I probably won't know what to do with myself and my thoughts these first couple of weeks but I know that they are being stimulated on another level with their friends and teachers. And hopefully, I will be too. Until next summer, when we come face to face with this dilemma again. But this time I will be prepared, because I want to replace those guilty summer pressures with guilty summer pleasures.
