The midway point of summer break has officially come and gone. Now, when my eight-year-old asks how many days there are left of summer holidays, it is less than 30, and the countdown to getting back into routine and the start of early bed times and early mornings has begun.
As a parent, summer break seems to go way too quickly. I really do enjoy having the boys at home, and this coming school year will be a new adjustment for our family, as our youngest son starts kindergarten.
Letting the kids stay up late, and sleep in is something I also enjoy. The days are a little more lazy, and are often more spontaneous during the summer, which is how our little family likes to operate.
For the past week, the boys have had an extra visitor to spend time with, since our niece (whose age conveniently falls right in between our boys’) has been visiting. For the past couple summers, my mom makes a point to keep our niece, so the kids can all spend time together.
I remember often doing similar things growing up, and after a week or two of having cousins at our house, the days would feel much more lonely and quiet when everyone went home to get back into the school routine.
Thankfully, this year we are also busy building our new house, so keeping up the excitement, while avoiding the inevitable changes that come with the end of summer break should be a little easier to handle.
July was a pretty good month. We celebrated Canada Day, visited with friends at the lake, went to visit friends out of town, my oldest son and I took part in the Bellevue Blast obstacle race, we spent some time with extended family, went to the city for three nights where we celebrated some close friends getting married (which also happened to be the first time our sons went to a wedding), and then we were back in the city the following weekend for a family wedding.
In between all that, the boys have taken part in the library reading program and tennis camp, and our oldest did a week of swim camp. There have been a few spray park visits, at least one quick evening trip to another local lake, and some movie dates thrown in the mix also.
Making a list of everything we’ve done so far makes it feel like we have indeed taken advantage of our summer break, so far – and thankfully we still have a couple more weeks to enjoy.
Last week, the kids were planning on going camping with the grandparents. This is something I’m sure the boys wish we had done more of this year. Thankfully, we have one camping trip planned for later this week as a family, and I’m hoping I can give them at least another trip in September if the weather holds out.
Social media can often make it seem as though everyone else is doing more, having more fun, or making more memories, as people post photos and statuses about their lives. Summer is an especially busy time on social media, with regular posts about trips and events popping up.
As a working parent, there is sometimes some guilt of not being able to spend every day of summer holidays with my kids, but I’m pretty confident that the people who are most important to me have enjoyed their summer break so far. I realize now that I should probably be worrying a little less, and instead enjoying the simple, relaxing, quiet days of summer before the routine of school sneaks up on us.
