Summer Time
It’s Summer, Summer, Summertime! While it’s not my favorite season, it does offer a break from the norm—for parents, students, and teachers at least.
Gone are the pre-dawn wake up times (at least temporarily) necessary to get the kids ready for school and my mind ready for the day. Everybody needs a little leisure in their schedule and I am ready for it. Summer means longer days and more sunlight for you to get out and enjoy the day.
Robyn has her eight weeks of summer planned. She opted for a two week exploratory summer camp to keep her mind intact for the return to school as a freshman. She plans to join a book club and read at least one book per week, whether or not it’s recommended as summer reading. Her latetst thing is murder mysteries but she hates horror films-ok.
Also on her list is revamping her wardrobe, minus the endless khakis and polos she wore for nine years and despised for four. She began that venture last week with the selection of a few “classic staples” right after deleting all the uniforms from her closet.
Meanwhile Jacob has plans on doing nothing, nothing remotely connected to learning that is. I asked if he wanted to do a camp and his aunt asked if he wanted to do one repeatedly. It was no, no, no each time. Not even an Apple store camp— he loves Apple. For the past two summers, I have signed him up for weeklong camps despite his nonapproval but I opted not to this time.
He had been asking about some sport camps but they were few and far between when I checked. When he was younger and I signed him up for soccer, baseball, tennis, without his approval, he couldn’t have cared less. But now it’s “when can I do basketball…soccer…baseball.”
On the last day of school, one of his teachers said I should sign him up for football now with his size and all. So that by junior varsity he would be ready to join the team that her son-in-law coaches. Nonetheless, he will just probably eat, sleep, game, and cook the next eight weeks away. I can’t complain, he does what is asked of him during the school year—the summer can be his.
Usually by now, they both would be knee deep into gardening with their grandma (my mom) as she would have reserved some of their time well before school concluded. Alas, that was not to be this summer as next week marks the first year anniversary of her passing. So instead we are starting our own “Garden for Grandma” with some of her favorites that became ours too. It’s been a lonesome year without her but we limped through it and we’ll make another summer too as we watch our garden grow!