Recalculating….. Recalculating…..

August has arrived!  I know this without looking at a calendar, the thermometer, or the pile of sandbox sand at my back door. I know it before I reluctantly open my eyes just after sunrise.  It is the level of energy ever present when you are a mom of 2 boys who are continuously on “high alert”!  

The term “summer break” is certainly open to interpretation.  

Summer = warm days, sports, swimming pools, sports, get-togethers, road trips, sports, late nights, kids I don’t know at my dinner table, sports, and buying sunscreen in bulk.  Break = down time, relaxing, pools or beaches, visits, refreshing beverages (sipped, not chugged), sleeping in, quiet during daytime hours, reading (not the label on tubes of yogurt), and reflecting.  I have noticed that these seem to be at opposite ends of the continuum.  

What I have learned is that, like life, summer is NOT a neat and orderly line graph or the posed pictures in family magazines of clean kids and candle-lit dinners in a pasture somewhere.   It’s “Everybody in the pool”!! . It is white water rafting. You have to hold on and learn to enjoy the ride. It’s the ying and the yang, rush and relax.

The lack of routine is great in the summer, the freedom of the outdoors, spending time with your kids, seeing friends and neighbors, diving into that project you’ve had on your list, snipping some fresh cilantro from your garden, and updating some landscaping. Summer, like a raft trip, begins as fun and exhilarating. The rapids part of rafting is the transition to the next season (don’t get me started on rafting/canoe trips:-0) wild and unpredictable (will we make it??).  And finally – smooth sailing once again. But here at the end of July I really think even the boys are ready to move from the rapids to the lazy river. Summer break is coming to an end. So my focus here in August is transitioning these next couple of weeks from rapids to calm waters – for my kids, my home, and myself.

This means kids will go back to school, families will settle into a more predictable routine.  Homes will take on a different mood/look. The idea is to move through this time smoothly. Something more like crossing a lovely little bridge – as opposed to bungee jumping! Check out my posts in the next few weeks for projects I’d like to share and ideas from some other really smart people. In the meantime – just think of “recalculating” as taking the scenic route, and smile.

Chat Soon,