Summer Break Eve

 Today is Summer Break Eve.  I have that swirling feeling of emotions in my stomach when I am on the brink of a big change.

I am mourning the quiet part of the morning after the rush to get the kids on the bus. Something about the quiet makes the coffee taste especially good. Or maybe it is just because I was able to drink it hot without interruptions. 

I will also miss going out to lunch wherever I wanted to.

Oh, and working without having to keep an ear out for the kids, I am really going to miss that, too.

But I am also excited for the adventures we are going to take now that I don't need to be the warden of homework and the morning routine. 

Last week I talked about being a fun parent, and in the trenches of routine and obligations, I often forget to have fun.  But I really want to embrace my inner fun parent, like the one who showed up to theTaylor Swift concert. 

This summer, maybe we’ll have ice cream for dinner. 

Or breakfast at the park. 

Maybe we’ll wake up one day without any plans and end up going on an all-day adventure.

I know that they will still need to eat their vegetables and read and brush their teeth.  But somewhere in there, I want them to know it’s OK to embrace spontaneity and be carefree (which is not to be confused with carelessness, like riding a bike without a helmet or eating a strawberry popsicle on the microfiber chair without a napkin – EEK)!

I love making plans because I know that I parent best when we are doing things rather than sticking around the house, but I need to remember to give myself a break. Like this summer when I vowed that we just needed sprinklers, hot dogs, and icecream. 

Spending less time on meal planning will allow me to honor my inner fun parent.  (See hot dogs and ice cream).  It can be so exhausting to have all the meals figured out and then make the meals and then hope everyone eats the meals and then cleaning up after the meals.  It is my firm belief a minimum of 75% of parenting revolves around food.

If we are going to focus on having fun and making memories, some things have got to go to the wayside.

So here, on Summer Break Eve, I feel fresh and ready to embrace these next few months! 

Listen, I know it is very likely probable that sometime soon after break has begun, I will have lost my shit while dealing with the kids.

But right now, today I am feeling hopeful that my fun parent outlook will be able to take us through the season with some grace and good times.

Because without hope, I will be miserable, and it is will be a long, hot dismal summer.

Hey, I forgot to mention that I got a new bike for Mother's Day.
Nothing says fun parent like wearing your pajamas and posing with
a bike in the family room, right?
Can't wait to see what kind of adventures we have on our bikes this summer!

How are you feeling about summer break?  How are you going to make it through the season without loosing your mind?

Being the Fun Parent: Taylor Swift 1989 Concert

This weekend, I took Marie to the Taylor Swift 1989 World Tour concert for her 9^th birthday. 

It was awesome to see her light up when Taylor took the stage . . .

Just a few days until we play Detroit and I get to wear my sparkly clothes and prance around...... PS Skylar took dis (aka welxometonewyork on tumblr)

A photo posted by Taylor Swift (@taylorswift) on May 25, 2015 at 10:30pm PDT

 and then again when Dan Reynolds from Imagine Dragons took the stage – EEK!!

RAGE FEST with Dan Reynolds from Imagine Dragons. #radioactive #1989TourDetroit

A photo posted by Taylor Swift (@taylorswift) on May 30, 2015 at 10:00pm PDT

Going to this concert filled me up in a soul-satisfying kind of way. I felt light and happy, and the good kind of exhausted.

To see that kind of joy in her eyes, those same eyes that harbor anxiety will forever be burned into my memory.

I also will remember the breezy, delicious feeling of being The Fun Parent.

Ah, The Fun Parent.

Look at me! I'm the fun parent!
Also, thank you to the super fans that were behind us.
Your homemade light up signs were not only awesomely creative, but gave great backlighting!

I don’t often let my fun parent flag fly.  It’s hard to when I’m always! being! responsible!

Meal planning. 

Groceries. 

Pack lunches. 

Make dinner. 

Laundry. 

Homework. 

Plan activities. 

Take them to said activities. 

The never-ending bedtime routine.

Then there is the worry that comes along with motherhood.  I worry about if I am doing it right.  Forget about right, am I doing it just good enough to avoid making mistakes that result in irreparable damages?

When I see the world through my children’s eyes, I am often reminded of my childhood wounds of being bullied and feeling like I would never fit in. I worry a lot about making sure my children are emotionally healthy to deal with an emotionally unhealthy world.

But then there are flashes when I remember the magic of my own childhood.  Taking Marie to this concert brought back my memories of my first concert: Madonna’s Who’s that Girl Tour in 1987. 

My mom, dad, brother, and I along with another family sat in the nosebleed seats of the now destroyed Pontiac Silverdome.  I was about 10 years old, and I will never forget her singing “Open Your Heart” in her black teddy with gold tassels on her boobs.

It was awesome!

I remember that rush of seeing someone who was (and still is) bigger! than! life!  I listened to her cassette tapes over and over on my Fisher Price tape recorder and there she was – in person – singing those songs.  Mind. Blown.

I easily get caught up in all of the hardships of motherhood.  But reminiscing about my first concert reminds me that fun should to be a priority.  Not just something fun for the them, the kids, but fun for all of us. 

At the Taylor Swift concert, that heavy feeling of accountability melted away, and we were two people in the moment having genuine fun together.

In between those spaces of obligations and duties, memories are made.  The good kind of memories.  The kind that create bonds.

Marie might never remember the hours I sat in the stands watching her swim meets or the daily effort that went into packing her lunches.

But I am hoping that she forever remember staying out until 1am dancing at the Taylor Swift concert, eating popcorn and dipping dots with her mom.

I know that I will.