End of Summer 2015

You know when you are at an awesome party and you are having a great time.  The vibe is good, the people are chill.  Your favorite music is playing in the background, and there is an bottomless bowl of Sun Chips.  You take a drink from your red Solo cup and feel a wave of happiness wash over you.  You start to think, “This is the best time EVER!  I am never going to leave!”

As the night wears on, people start to drink a little too much and things start to get out of hand.  People start breaking shit and hitting each other.  You look around at the chaos, dumbfounded.  “What the hell happened?” you wonder.  “We were all just getting along and having so much fun.”

That’s August.

I would be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous before summer began.  The season can be brutally long, especially August.  And in the past, I feel morelike a cruise director than a mom.

This summer has been different.  It’s been easy.  Actually, it’s been the best summer that I can remember in the history of summers (although the summer between 9^th and 10^th grade when I went to Disney World for a dance competition and Cedar Point with my friend would be a close second).

The kids have been getting along and having fun with each other.  They have found their groove, and I am convinced that they love each other again.  (It was unclear if this was true during the last part of winter and throughout spring).

Even grocery shopping has been drama free.  I can get in and out of two stores in under an hour.  That is unheard of for me.  I feel like I should drop my mike every time we leave the store.  

We’ve had a good run, hanging out together all day and pushing the bedtime envelope later and later.  But it’s getting close to the time when we need to leave the party before gets totally out of hand.  I feel like we are one more late night bedtime away from having a full-out meltdown, similar to the meltdown had by the ladies of Real Housewives of New York in season 3 at Scary Island. 

I may find myself screaming this at 2:30 in the afternoon.

via GIPHY

The break from routine has been much needed, but we need it back.  Now.  Before the Best Summer Ever goes up in flames.

via GIPHY

The Summer When I was a Cruise Ship Director

I can’t believe we are approaching the last week of summer.  This summer has been by far the easiest summer, “easy” being a relative terms.

There are still squabbles between the kids that need to be managed.  They still have busy schedules. 

But we’ve really turned a corner with their independence.  Small things like getting their own water bottles ready for the pool and playing on their own with their friends have made a huge difference.

But it wasn’t always like that.  Those summers when they were little made me feel more like a cruise director rather than a mom.

My post that I wrote about a few years ago about the summer when I was a cruise ship director is now up on Huffington Post Parents.

Summer is not carefree when you have kids, that is for sure.

I would love it if you clicked on over to read it!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/erin-janda-rawlings/welcome-aboard-the-ss-sum_b_7898630.html

 

This would have been a totally reasonable statement to come out of my mouth during those earlier years.

Week 2 of Summer Vacation

 When I say I am going to do something, I do it.  Give me a task, and I will see it through to the end, including the epilogue.

Perseverance is my super power.

Until it turns into my kryptonite.

When I put on my horse blinders to get the job done, I don’t always evaluate how things are going. I become so focused that I don’t pay attention to the signals that it might not be working.

So tired that I’m dizzy?  Push through.  Shallow breath from pushing through? Keep going.  There is a finish line to cross (and if I’m first, that’s even better).

When I said that I wanted to embrace my inner fun parent , I really didn’t mean embrace.  I meant a bear hug so fierce that I wouldn’t even notice if anyone was suffocating.

Even me.

By the end of week 2 of summer vacation, that’s where I’m at.  Exhausted.  Out of breath.

We did a whole summer’s worth of stuff in two weeks.

At our staycation in Ann Arbor, we started with sandwiches from Zingerman’s.

This sandwich made me so happy.

Then we took a stroll around Ann Arbor and the University of Michigan campus.

She was curious about what the campus looked like. . . 
although,we are not what you would call a die hard U of M family.

Afterwards, we went to the Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum which was awesome!

I seriously lack in the science knowledge department.
I love that this place filled in some blanks with a lot of fun.

Standing inside a giant bubble can now be checked off
on the ultimate lifetime experience list.

Then we had some fun visiting my family that lives near Ann Arbor and ate some really delicious ice cream.

We’ve also spent some time in the after-hours clinic for an infected mosquito bite.

We celebrated Father’s Day.

We have had play dates at the park.

Play dates at home.

And appointments.

Pool time.

Tennis lessons.

Swim practices and meets.

T-ball games.

Oh, we also went to the Imagine Dragons concert – our first family concert!

3 out of 4 loved it! One of us fell asleep.
During the concert.  Maybe next time.

All in addition to home renovation projects like the kitchen 

Our new granite for the countertops.

and patio steps.

Delays due to ant colonies and the original steps made from incorrect materials.
Now we have to order new pavers .
I wanted to cry.

I often wonder why I am so damn tired and feel mentally stretched to the limit, but when I write all this down it becomes crystal clear.

What is not crystal clear is why I continue down this path of being a fun parent when it is stressing me out.

I think it comes down to this: after years of being confined by baby/toddler routines and then constricted by the school schedule, I want to make the most of our free time.

I want to travel!

I want the kids to play with their friends!

I want to spontaneously eat ice cream for dinner!

I want to make memories that will last a lifetime! 

I want to feel alive!

But I’m tired.  Although I want my kids to have a great summer and I want to do all of the things, it’s not necessarily filling up my soul.

Moving forward, I am going to fight the urge to fill up all of the free time.

Take deep breaths and recharge.

Summer in an endurance sport, and I cannot be burned out before July.

Let the Summer Adventures Begin

Summer break has officially begun! 

We’ve celebrated with ice cream.

We’ve visited the library.

But I am ready embrace the thing that I love most about summer (besides an ice cold beer): travel.

I love to travel, and I want the kids to love traveling.  I talked about this last year (along with how things just did not go how I had hoped). 

In order to celebrate my inner fun parent, I decided to kick off summer break with a mini staycation adventure to Ann Arbor.

I am going to try *really* hard to keep my expectations closer to the realistic side of the spectrum and as far away as idealist as possible.

As we embark on our first summer adventure of the season, I thought I would re-share my Live in the D: Summer Travel Tips with Kids post again.

Hope these help you as much as they have helped me!