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by Kathy Buckworth
Summer “vacation”…for
whom? And from what? With the kids around, it seems more is,
well, more. The laundry grows between the towels, shorts and
swimsuit changes, the groceries run out even faster with little
hands poking in snack cupboards, and the house gets surprisingly
even more messy with children in residence. If you’re
like me, you silently count down the days until the little
angels get out the door, and back to school again. And by
“silently” I mean scratching a frantic line across
the day on the calendar (at 8:00 in the morning, with a purple
crayon) while using the other hand to try to separate two
battling siblings.
Children learn during the school
year, and supposedly take the summer to refresh and return
rejuvenated (or at least grateful for getting out of the house
where the crazy screaming lady lives) to learn some more.
I believe that with most Moms, the reverse is inherently true.
Whether you’re arranging summer camps for the kids,
sticking around the house with them, departing to the land
of the “cottage-Mom” or a combination thereof,
there are many lessons we all learn during the summer months,
which we need to recover from, and refresh during those lovely
long normal, routine weeks back at school.
Some of the lessons we learn include:
- The inverse law of sunscreen: the more
likely you are to get every inch of junior’s soft
baby white skin covered in SPF50, the more likely you are
to find yourself burned to a crisp. You used up half a bottle
and none of it made its way to you.
- Baseball hats self-implode and disappear
out of the “hat” box in your front cupboard.
They will mysteriously reappear when you are going through
the winter tuque drought.
- Yes those flip flops are adorable for
a four year old. However, they can’t walk more than
three steps every five minutes without them falling off.
And you’re in a hurry to get to the store to get more
sunscreen. Come on!
- You can be a nice Mom and allow for
“summer bedtimes”, but be forewarned that the
concept of “summer sleep-ins” is totally foreign
to any child under the age of eight. Congratulations –
they’ve stayed up later and now they’re cranky
at 2:00 in the afternoon. Not really a win/win – more
like a whine/wine (them the former and you, the latter).
- Go ahead, cut up that healthy, nutritious,
attractive, messy watermelon and put it out for the children
you’ve invited over for a backyard romp. The perfect
snack for a hot, dehydrating day. That is, until, Junk Food
Mom arrives from down the street and pops out a bag of salty
potato chips. BE her. Take the title of “good mom”
(according to the kids, anyway), as a summer treat. Feed
them some broccoli for dinner later.
- Back to school shopping seems fun. It’s
not. The list is always confusing (what the heck is a #2
pencil – what happened to #1?) and the older the kid,
the less likely you are going to be able to convince them
that a) last year’s stuff is just fine and b) most
items can be found at the dollar store, not the high end
office supply store.
- Throw out last year’s knapsacks
if you witness any of the following:
o Liquid ooze coming out of the bottom
o A swarm of fruit flies nestled along the zipper
o The dog incessantly sniffing and sneezing in front of
it
o The owner of said knapsack screaming “Don’t
touch that!”
Once school starts in September, these key
learnings will fade to an unpleasant memory and you’ll
be free once again to focus on the things that really count…like
why the school bus driver insists on arriving 12 minutes late
the first morning of classes. You know – you were counting
it down.
Kathy Buckworth’s new book,
“Journey to the Darkside: Supermom Goes Home”
is available a bookstores everywhere. Visit www.kathybuckworth.com
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