Surviving Summer Break

Nothing makes a school aged child happier than the thought of summer break, that wonderful 3 month hiatus from all things related to school.

As the person responsible for driving said child back and forth to school every day which takes 45-50 minutes daily or a total of almost 4 hours a week simply transporting, I should be thankful as well. Instead, I am now forced to find things to occupy the time of the soon to be second grader and to play referee to keep him and his 2 year old sister from fighting and yelling at each other all day long.

Sidenote, I thought the sibling crap wouldn't start til much later but they each seem to enjoy making the other one as aggravated as possible.

One of those lovely peaceful sibling moments ... fleeting just like the sunlight behind them

We had our summer vacation immediately after school let out and spent a week on the beach in Pensacola. The timing was perfect as it wasn't so hot as to be miserable AND the children hadn't spent so much time together as to be completely on each other's nerves ... yet. Had we waited til later in the summer, I don't think anyone would have enjoyed it as much as we are now firmly stuck in the desperation of "when will school start again??

Apparently it is frowned on to leave one's children buried in the sand to their waists so we HAD to pull them out

I wish I was one of those really creative mommies, like my next door neighbor who invited Gremlin over the other day to do science experiments with her kids. I really need to be more like that but let's be honest - that's just not me.

I have attempted to plan at least one adventure a week even if that adventure is something as simple as using our season passes to Six Flags Hurricane Harbor. I also enrolled Gremlin in a piano camp for the week after vacation which led him to declare that he wants to start piano. Now we have a fine digital instrument upstairs and a task that I can send him off to do every day when I am nearing my wit's end of Power Rangers, PlayStation and iPad.

Now most are likely thinking, why stay inside? Go out and enjoy the beauty of nature! That sounds all good and well but we now live in the Republic of Insanely Hot Summer (a.k.a. Texas).  I would love to get out and enjoy the outdoors, but there is nothing I want to do less when it's 95+ degrees and humid than stand outside and sweat. With hardly a tree or shade to be found, one can't even go down a slide without fear of ending up with 2nd degree burns. I know I'm not the only child who once learned that lesson on a metal slide while growing up

This will be a lesson to me for next summer when I can only assume that the sibling "let's drive each other crazy" issues will be even worse.  I need a gameplan for activities and perhaps some inexpensive camps to keep everyone sane. Of course as Gremlin doesn't return to school until September, there is still time to become a better summer mom and plan better. I'll add that to my list of things like exercising and dieting that I really need to get to. :)

In the mean time, there is plenty of coffee to be had and lots of space in the home for separating the warring children and most important of all - a two year old who still takes a long nap each afternoon and gives us all a rest from the constants yells of "No! That's MINE!" and "Stop it! It's MINE!"

Momma and her "little" Gremlin