Pool Time

Pool Time

We have been clocking in a lot of pool time, which in theory, would seem like a relaxing way to spend the summer.

Growing up, I had a pool, and I vividly remember the feeling carefree as frolicked in the water.  I remember nagging my mom to look at each and every acrobatic trick I did in the water, and then requested an in-depth analysis of my performance.  After seeing a movie with Esther Williams in it, I was pretty sure I was destined to be a synchronized swimmer.  

Between spending every day in the pool along with a never-ending supply of popsicles, life just seemed like a vacation, really.

But working behind the scenes at the pool as a parent is a *totally* different experience.  

First of all, Thomas and Marie are at different swimming levels which means that they are never together.  I feel like my head is on a swivel as I try to watch them both at the same time.  It doesn’t help that there is not a lifeguard at our neighborhood pool, either.  So for the duration of the time at the pool, this the frantic monologue scrolling on a never-ending loop in my head:

• OK, Marie is over there, and Thomas is right in front of me.

• Wait, is that the mom that lives down the street from me?  And she has a little boy Thomas’s age?  We should exchange info for a playdate. 

• Marie wants me to throw the diving rings.  Yes, Thomas can throw them, too.  Oh no!  He just about hit that lady in the head with a ring.

• How long have we been in here already?  Hours?  No, just 20 minutes.

• Wait, where is Marie?  Oh, over there.  OK.

• Thomas wants to jump in?  Yes, this is so exciting!  Wait!!  The tubes in his ears!  

• Are they dehydrated?  Maybe they need some water?

• Is that my kid screaming?  Thank goodness, no.

• I am disturbed by the joy Thomas gets out of splashing me, yet almost pulls my tankini top down when he uses it to dry off any little sprinkle of water that may come in contact near or around his general eye area.

• We are turning red.  It is time for more sunblock.  The dreaded sunblock.  Slathering this stuff on is *almost* as bad as struggling with a snowsuit.

End scene.

I love how all this pool time tires them out.  I worry less about screen time knowing we have clocked some serious active time.  We have been outside more these past two weeks than we have been all last summer.

But I am tired after the pool, too.  Like ridiculously tired.  Laundry is an afterthought.  I have not cooked a real meal in weeks; I am assembling ingredients and calling it dinner.  I am getting work done in the early morning hours or late into the night.  

Although this unlimited pool time has been fun, I am not sure it is sustainable.  I may have to dig deep into my Pinterest pins about creating some kind of rhythm to ensure we don’t all implode due to summer burnout.

Do you have access to a pool or some other body of water?  How do you hang there and get a minimum of stuff done around the house?

Week One of Summer Vacation

Happy First Full Week of Summer!!

This week was pretty awesome, I must say.  I wrote for the Detroit News MichMoms blog that I was going to take it slow this summer.  Between moving and unpacking and driving to Marie’s old school and unpacking and then unpacking some more, I didn’t want to be on a tight schedule of doing anything.

However, doing nothing as a mom is impossible.  Groceries don’t buy themselves, and Marie can’t drive herself to swim lessons quite yet.

Although I start the day out relaxed, somewhere around lunch time I look at the clock in astonishment that half the day is gone.  Well, maybe not half.  We’ve been rocking a late bedtime resulting in a slower morning.  Breakfast at 9:00am??  Playing at the playground until 7:30pm?  S’mores on the patio at 8:30pm?  Falling asleep at 10:00pm.  Actually, now that I think about it, our summer hours are probably regular hours for everyone else.  During the school year, my morning has been is almost over by 9:00am, and I don’t think that is the norm.

The Type-A, early riser has some misgivings about such late hours because I have already labeled myself as “early bird” and fear the world may end if I have to change the label to “night owl.”  However, there is a big part of me that is reveling in the freedom of not being ruled by the clock.  Who cares if we don’t get outside until 2:00pm if you don’t go to bed until 9:30, right?!

Eventually, I think I am going to have find a happy medium because our witching hour antics have been amped up.  The meltdowns that happen without warning can be a bit jarring, and really the only pitfall in this whole slow summer movement.

So how is your summer shaping up so far?

S'mores to the break of dawn

Summer, Moving, and the Never-Ending Unpacking Phase

Um I don't mean to start this blog post so abruptly, but why didn't anyone tell me how hard moving is?

Wait, they probably did. But I just couldn’t wrap my mind around just how taxing it would be on my sanity. 

Medicine cabinet box in the dining room?  Why, yes, that makes sense. 

Clothes on a heap on the floor because I don't know where to put them?  Totally acceptable. 

Let's just leave those boxes there since they don't have anything we need and we are not tripping over them.

This is the only part of the house that is organized.  When I can't take it anymore, I look in here with all the boxes in order and feel a sick, strange yet sweet sense of peace.  

I didn't think it would take me this long to unpack, but I also underestimated the time it would take for me to run Thomas to and from school while driving 30 mins each way to Marie's old school. Literally, I haven’t been home for more than two hours at a time.  During that fleeting time,  lunch would be served and cleaned up.  This, of course, took much longer than expected since I could remember where I put all the kitchen stuff.

I also picked up some extra freelance stuff.  Then it was the end of another semester.

Did I mention I had family in from out of town, too?

I think my rock bottom in trying to manage this was when I fell into a deep, delicious slumber . . .  in the school parking lot waiting for Marie to get out of school. I woke up with a start, confused about where I was. 

This is probably how a celebrity feels when she has to be hospitalized for "exhaustion." Except I really was exhausted and didn't have any fun partying my way to "exhaustion."

But now the kids are out of school,  and I have 2 weeks before the beginning of the next semester to get my act together.

So here's to summer! And new adventures. And finally making this place a home.

How did you kick off your summer? Also, have you moved? Please tell me this stuff in boxes will find a home.