So this is interesting: Si didn't WANT school to get out. "Are you looking forward to the last day of school?" everyone would ask, all excited. Summer! Freedom! Et cetera!
"No," he would say in a small voice. "Oh," they would say, confused, and change the subject. Unless they were me, and then they'd press for details. "Well, why NOT?" (Aren't you glad you're not my kid?)
I must admit I was dreading that the answer would be because then I'll have to spend more time with you.
And it may have been, but he was too savvy to say that to my face. Instead he mumbled something about changing grades and having to leave his favorite teacher and so forth.
As any mother with grade school kids will know, I, too, did not want school to get out. And yes, this was partly because I'll have to spend more time with my kids. Having the whole house to myself for long stretches of time is beautiful, and writing just isn't the same without it. Also, too often "quality time with my kids" devolves into "quality nagging time." Time to turn off the TV! Play outside! Please close the screen door! Where do your dirty dishes go, again? What are you going to do for exercise today? And for the love of god, STOP SHOUTING!
And so on. It's mind-numbing for all involved, and actually for non-involved parties within earshot as well.
However, I'm hoping that this summer will be different. Helen has daycare three days a week, so those will be more quiet days, when I try to get work done. On the days when I have them both, though, we're going to hit the city. This place is lousy with museums, many of them free. There are hundreds of playgrounds--we can visit a new one each week and not be done by August. We can hike ("we hate hikes, don't we, Silas?"). We can play in the creek (I bring a book. It's awesome). We can go swimming, especially when this cool-stormy weather pattern we've been having in Denver clears up. We can play minigolf.
Summer: I AM looking forward to it. And dreading it, but mostly in a I-hope-I-don't-fuck-this-one-up way, which is mostly good.
What about you? Do you have fun summer plans?
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Sort of. A lot of it will involve lap-band related stuff like figuring out what I can eat. And we're going to the beach for a week. And maybe we'll rent a cabin in the mountains for a weekend? And now that I've been cleared for strenuous exercise by my surgeon, we plan to start hiking pretty much every weekend. It should be fun.
Summer plans: have a baby. We're keeping it simple around here.
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