Let’s muse about Pizza and Summer plans over iced tea and spice cake.
The road warriors pulled in yesterday at around 3:30 p.m., and we were ready.
When the road warriors arrived, I was picking Cole up at school, by the time we returned home they had already unpacked the van, let out their dogs, my dogs and our campers, and were just starting the cocktail hour; they really are traveling ninjas.
We ordered pizza last night, and when my mom put it on the table she removed the entire wrapping and left the pizza exposed to the cold air.
I was like, “Why did you do that?” and quickly raced to find a bowl large enough to put over the pizza while it was still piping hot. My mom was very apologetic. When Cole walked into the room and saw the pizza still exposed to the cold air, he wondered “What the heck?” I explained, and with deepest sincerity he looked at my mom and said, “Why?” Every Chicago pizza fan knows that you never pull the wrapper all the way off the pizza and let the heat out of the bag. Of course, we all burst into laughter at the sight of Cole’s perplexed face. The pizza was not as hot as we would have liked, but the laughter made up for it, and we are pretty sure that my mom will never repeat her pizza faux pas.
Would you like a piece of spice cake?
Our school year is officially over and our summer is only for the next three months. When we return from Ireland, Cole is footloose and fancy free. I never signed him up for summer camps, joined pools, or considered it my job to entertain him. I say “yes” and “go” to just about every suggestion Cole makes and allow him plenty of room to become bored. I find that giving him money to do the things he wants costs me less than signing him up for activities. We won’t have summer reading goals or limits on television and computer games; bedtime, which I still enforce during the school year, will fly out the window. He has committed to run the grooming side of Camp-Run-A-Pup because he is saving money to buy a car next year. Our summer plans are made-to-order for a mom who loves throwing control and expectations to the wind for three months and for a boy who usually has no trouble entertaining himself. I will be ready for rhythm and routine in September, but I can already feel myself breathing out the school year and breathing in summer.
Has your school year ended? Do you enjoy the lazy, hazy days of summer, or does the lack of routine and endless sticky counters drive you nuts? I don’t think there is a right way to do summer, but I hope that everyone has some time to just relax and enjoy their kids’ summer vacations with them.
♥
Kb
Wonderful. I took an out breath just reading it. . .ahhhhh
Sam’s off to Lifeguard Camp, which suits all of us, and we’ll continue with cello for a good part of the summer, but other than that, our plan is fairly similar to yours (just last night Jason said ‘so, what’s Sam’s summer bedtime?’ and I said ‘I think whenever he wants to go to bed. Are you good with that?’, ‘yup’) and I like the ideas of ‘yes’ and ‘go’! a loose routine a-okay here. And endless sticky counters (not that that’s particularly different from the rest of the year!). Laughing a little too, because I’ve been making peppermint tea and carrot cake with cream cheese frosting — so there again, I think we’re on the same summer wave-length. . .
In the beginning they really push the staying up late button but I felt Cole became much more reasonable after a few weeks of my letting him work it out—not an easy one for me since I was always a bedtime Nazi–more for my sake then his!
😀 we often travel that wave-length together don’t we?
I thought Cole was signed up for computer camp in Lake Forest? I always did the enrichment camps with the Art Institute, Music Institute, Science camp, Comedy and Film camps etc.. I spent a fortune but they always enjoyed them. My children needed and required a lot of structure. Summer reading at their high schools was rather intense and that too was expensive. One book a week minimum for Tom and Mary Kate often read three because that was her thing. We also belonged to a pool and they went swimming daily and finally we took a family camping trip which was always their delight. I almost forgot by Junior and Senior year they both had jobs and saved a little money. I also rememeber extensive prep for ACT and SAT testing! I’m glad all that is behind me. Life is a lot easier both of mine still involved in school and work and thriving adults.
Kids are different.Sounds like your kids had a different kind of summer than ours but it worked well for them. Cole needs a structure free summer–always has. I think it gives him a chance to absorb what he learned during the year. We are thinking about 2 week day computer camp because he really wants to do it..they said I can decide when we get back from Ireland.
You are correct and every family is different! I hope both you and Cole have a wonderful summer. I miss my two terribly because they are both consumed with their lives and our visits are too short. Enjoy Cole why you can before he flies the coop!
I’ve been fortunate that as a teacher I’ve always been home with my kids during the summer break, though admittedly it’s not as long as yours. Every year it’s a tradition of ours to go to Philip Island for a few weeks and just chill as a family. Sadly as they grow up one by one they’ll start making excuses so they can spend summers with their friends instead. This year for the first time Alessia hired a beach house with her friends so she didn’t come with us to the Island. It saddened me but I also didn’t want her to miss out on the experience with her friends. Apart from that I have no real structure. They go to sleep when they want, wake up whenever and generally organise their outings hopefully without too much taxi driving on my behalf. They have so much structure at school so it’s nice for them to just let it go for the holidays.
I was wondering how long your summer holidays are Antoinette? My children had twelve weeks and I can remember thinking it was too long. I wish they broke it up and gave them more breaks in the school year. I believe the US calendar for most schools is poorly designed. This is why I incorporated enrichment classes filled with Art, Music, Science and Comedy & Film. The classes were typically 3 week sessions but it broke up that long summer. By the time school resumes in the US my kids couldn’t wait to get back. I know that sounds crazy but they missed their friends and the activities.
I love this, Katybeth…glad Cole is planning to work to earn money for a car! I’m sure it’s a big help for you too!
I’m still behind reading as you can see…you’re probably already on your trip by now…hope you’re having a great time!
Hugs,
Wendy
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