I thought this summer would allow me to slow down a bit. This conclusively proves that I have learned exactly nothing from being a parent all these years. Here is a small sample of what is going on these days:
1. Gymnastics – We added two gymnastics classes a week for the summer and now I hear “Watch this, mom!” about a thousand times a day. Usually someone is about to show me their bridge, cartwheel, or splits. It has been a lot of fun for all of us and I have never in my life seen my kids so happy to just be moving around.
2. One More Bird Flies the Nest – My son James took off for his first real long term adventure away from home. He will be working on an organic farm in Alaska (!!!) for an undetermined amount of time. I am excited for him, I think this will be such a growth experience for him, but at the same time my heart just aches to have him so far away. With one child in France, one in Alaska, and the rest of us in Phoenix, we are truly spread far and wide.
He left on a plane on Tuesday with just a few suitcases and his guitar. Gus may be only 2.5 years old, but he knew what was going on. He woke James up the morning he was leaving by stuffing his teddy bear between James’s arm and face and telling him, “I love you so big James!” over and over.
Contact me for his address if you would like to write to him.
3. The Time Puzzle – I am trying so hard to figure out how to mange all of our activities and schools next year. We added gymnastics, which will continue once a week during the school year. Lily moved up a level in ballet, which means she will have a lesson twice a week. Max was promoted to Town Choir with the Phoenix Boys Choir which will now meet three times a week. Molly will probably be going to Kindergarten in a nearby preschool. Both Lily and Max finally got into our school of choice, which is still 18 miles away because we haven’t had any luck finding a rental that meets our needs over on that side of town. (Ballet, Gymnastics, and School are all in the same area, the preschool is near our current house.) My extra drivers are all gone or employed, and Jay works very long and unpredictable hours, so it has to be possible for me to do all the driving, even if I may sometimes have help. This is the puzzle I have been trying to work out in my head for the last couple weeks. I still haven’t come to any kind of conclusion.
Being on the other side of town would help, but I can’t count on that. (Know any investors who want to buy a house for us to rent-then-buy? We won’t be able to purchase another house until we have owned our business for another year or so, and we hope to move out of this house to sell it, because keeping a house ready to show with this many people living in it and this much craziness going on is a recipe for, well, craziness.)
4. More Dietary Restrictions – Poor Molly has still been having constant belly pain. Trying her with gluten was an obvious fail, and even with a new med regimen her pain still wasn’t going away. Back to the G.I. doc we went and were given orders to strictly avoid milk and eggs as well as gluten. She really thinks that Molly’s issues stem from a food sensitivity (or two, or three) and we just have to figure them out. In the mean time, this has eliminated a good portion of the foods that Molly was able to eat before. Ever try to shop for gluten free baked goods? Almost all of them have eggs. I have to rethink my meal planning, I have to pack snacks when we go places… I know many have it much worse, but it’s just complicated.
5. A Quiet Getaway – Last week Jay and I got away by ourselves for two whole days. It was so nice! We stayed in the city, in a pretty little resort with great summer pricing and spent time talking and relaxing and stuff. We even put a puzzle together. It is so seldom that we have the time to really unwind and get past dealing with the day to day business of family and living and enjoy each other’s company like we did last weekend. The kids were in good hands and had a good time of their own, and the house was only mildly trashed when we returned.
6. My Morning Study – Since I have been trying to slow down this summer, I decided to take a different route for my morning quiet time. Instead of my usual Bible study I am gong through the book “Teaching from Rest: A Homeschooler’s Guide to Unshakeable Peace.” I am well aware of the fact that I am no longer a homeschooling parent, and, as I mentioned above, our kids are finally all into our school of choice, so I have no plans to go back to homeschooling. But I think that every parent can benefit from taking a homeschooling perspective on how they approach and teach their children. We are our children’s first teacher and what we do at home matters more than what happens during the hours our children are at school.
But let’s face it, parenting is exhausting, and when I am exhausted, I don’t act like a very good teacher or parent to my children. This book has been a refreshing look at setting priorities in our family and has helped me to take a calmer look at all of the needs of little people that surround me every day.
Plus, she put together a little study guide/journal to help you think through the ideas, and I am all about writing and journaling.
7. VBS and Other Summer Activities – We are finishing up our week of VBS, which the kids have loved so much, but which meant we had to go back to getting out the door at an early hour. Tessa took a few voice lessons and has had some extra work with her gymnastics coach as a helper for some classes. My dad has generously been teaching the kids piano. Max has been taking a geography course that involves the game of Minecraft. Ben has been active in his band and needed a lot of rides. We still haven’t found the time to take him for his license. Jay has been extra-busy with work and some choir events. We have moved around a lot of possessions with James moving out and we have gotten rid of about 10 yard size black trash bags worth of clutter. We can almost park the car in the garage again, which will be very nice because it means that Gus will stop whining all the way through every single car trip. I can’t believe June is nearly over, I know July will tick by just as quickly and then we will be preparing for school again. We haven’t even had time to be bored.
Don’t forget to check out my latest Catholic Stand post!
That’s all for now, go see Jen for more Quick Takes!