Summer Joys, Summer Tasks

Suddenly summer is here; now that the last meetings and end-of-year parties have been attended, I have awakened to all that is summer joy. However, being me, I have made a chore list as long as summer itself which includes cleaning, painting, de-junking, wallpapering, weeding, and book-keeping. That part is kind of a bummer, especially the item on the list that says "Take everyone to dentist." My family members are all dentist-chair cowards, and that does not improve with age.

Added to all my tasks I have listed some things that I hope to accomplish in the leisure category: seeing some summer movies, reading some good books, and writing some good books of my own--or at least one, maybe. :)

Today I started on a big project that has been awaiting me: the cleaning of my sons' activity room. They made it so messy that they both felt entirely flummoxed about where to begin: the mounds of clothing? the giant stacks of action guys? the school supplies scattered here and there and dusted over with bits of cat hair?

Enter mother, determined and slightly insane. I've decided that it's a two-day job, but today's tasks have made it look far more habitable. My oldest son is cleaning out a basement room to make it his teen hangout, and so he and I were equally obsessive today in our quest to make something yucky look attractive.

There will be much of this in my summer, but I know that at the end of my two months' freedom I will have many concrete things to show for it, and perhaps even some stolen relaxation time.

What are your plans for summer?

Looking for a Little Summer Fun

Summer is speeding right along and I am searching for ways to make it memorable for my boys. We've seen a few of the blockbuster movies (Ratatouillie was wonderful!) but of course I want to do more than that. I would love to take them traveling, but budgeting and scheduling don't permit much of that. Today we're going to tour the only running water mill in the U.S. That sounds interesting, but . . . .

If anyone has a good summer fun suggestion, be sure to let me know. We've got nothing but time for a few weeks, and then suddenly we'll have no time at all. Ah, summer. Thank goodness for it.

The Wind's Will

My eight-year-old son is marking down the days on a little calendar he made himself. He has, I believe, nine days left of school. Of course I want him to value education, to be even a little reluctant to leave his classroom and teacher behind--but who am I kidding? I did the same thing. Summer is the siren that sings annually to promise children an eternal freedom, an endless fun, an escape from drudgery.

I was trying to plan some book events for the summer, and one of them involved choosing between one-day attendance and an overnight stay. My son's opinion was quick and honest. "Go for the one day," he said, holding up a wise finger. His desire to be with me squashes some of my ambition, and our plans for the summer are basically these: lie around; have fun; go to some movies; have family time.

Amidst that lazy, sultry few weeks, I need to get myself in gear. Madeline Mann comes out on August 1st, and I have yet to contact everyone in the world. Based on what I see of my sons and the way that they're gearing up for laziness, almost as if they're about to hibernate, I don't think I can count on much help from that quarter.

But that's okay. As Longfellow so aptly wrote: "A boy's will is the wind's will, and the thoughts of youth are long, long thoughts."