Lazy Summer Days

Who said summer days were lazy? More like BUSY! At least that's how they have always been for me until now. This has been a busy summer indeed but it has been the good-busy kind! I have been busy noticing my children and enjoying them. I have been busy learning how to be a kid like them! But now it's time to be lazy....

This is the first summer since I became a mom of three children that I can truly say I am enjoying having them at home. Before, when I was part of the corporate world, we were all rushing through the days in and out of camps, grandma's house and the short one-week vacation we would take to visit Mickey in Orlando or go get some sun at a Florida beach, but it always felt like a part of the same race, the race against time. After moving to Seattle and becoming a stay-at-home mom, I tried to enjoy the summers a little more but "lazy" was never a part of any summer day for us. We were always working hard with Frankie's early intervention team and breaks were not allowed, not even in the summer; if we could stick a third session in the day or even a Saturday one, we would do it, in order to make up for any sick time or to stay ahead of schedule. Still, we would try to make the best of it, sneaking in a picnic here and there, beach walks and even a short trip home but the feeling was still the same...race, race, race against time.

Even though Frankie graduated from his early intervention process, I started out this summer on the same cue, rush, rush, register the kids for this or for that, keep them busy, basketball, swimming, camp, tennis, math camps, whatever it takes to be "productive." Until I came to my senses. I have slowed down now and so have the kids. It's summer! Let the sun in and open the windows! Frankie still has goals to reach but they are so much more enjoyable when they involve a family game! Not only Frankie but Victor and Becca can definitely benefit from learning how to win and how to loose. We can all be more polite with each other and learn how to be kind helpers around the house. This new stage in Frankie's treatment is not only for him, it's for all of us! We continue to grow as a family but this time we can enjoy each other in the process - in the middle of an afternoon lunch at Green Lake or a bike ride along Lake Washington, there are a lot of things we can teach each other.

Lazy summer days have also brought quiet mornings for me...The kids sometimes sleep up to 10:00 a.m. in the morning...what is that? Oh, yes, that's called being completely out of whack with their bed time so they have to make up for lost sleep in the morning but, hey, I am OK with that. It's summer, no worries. As I type this entry right now, I'm aware of the silence, the peace and quiet and the fact that my young boys are still sleeping...no surprise there from the teenage girl but the boys, well, that's a summer miracle in itself. I used to blame them for never being able to get any sleep for myself but I have no excuse now! They are sleeping and I am awake...what's wrong with this picture? Nothing. It's perfect. I am awake in every sense of the word and I have been for a while now...I can look outside the window and take in this bright, beautiful, Seattle summer day and be fully awake. I know this sunny day will not last forever...the more reason why it needs to be treasured, just in case of an eventual rainy day that is sure to come our way, after all, we do live in Seattle.