Summer, Summer, Where Art Thou?

  Its been a really depressing the last several weeks weeks. For the first time in 14 years I’ve had the opportunity to spend the summer with my girls. As busy as I’ve been as a working Mom, I guess it didn’t occur to me how busy I’d be staying at home. And the kids, Good LORD, the kids schedules are insane. Yes, I knew this. I’ve juggled it all while working in an office all day, but this summer has been slam packed with camps, trips with their friends, overnight gatherings, and practices. I mean, what happened to summer??? My husband and I frequently speak of the days, way back when (when we had to walk up hill barefooted in the snow , before the time of horse drawn carriages), we had three month summers. Yes, you heard me correctly, THREE MONTHS! We didn’t go back to school until the week of LABOR DAY!  I know, you guys are with me on this one. It was awesome!  The last day of school was a real celebration because we knew we were about to get…to get…(are you ready)…a BREAK! And what a break it was.  I have really fond memories of my summers at home. We walked the neighborhood daily with friends, walked to the creek by the school or the pond by the library. My friends and I lived close enough to visit each others houses and hang out all day if we wanted. And if I had nothing to do with my buddies, I got to watch re-runs on television that I otherwise would have never been exposed to. I loved black and white movies, and old shows like Flipper, the Monkeys, and Perry Mason. And when else would I have the chance to eat Little Debbies and drink sweet tea all day. I mean, I was a skinny little kid. That calorie intake probably saved my life! (Ah, those were the days!)

 And now my kids have started school in mid-August and I’m looking back and thinking, where the heck did the time go? What about all that scrapbooking we were going to do? What about all the artwork, painting, and swimming we were going to do? What about the trips to the beach, leisure time? Well we did manage to work in a few things together, and I’m glad we at least got that much in. And just as well,  we got to spend time together we haven’t had in a really long time.  Now that our relaxing carefree summer is over, I’ll have time to write about the things I DID get to do the last few months. And the kids, well the kids are in full swing. Not that they know the difference. So here’s to you, summer of the past. We miss you!