By Carrie Tinsley of Carrie On, Y’all
Hey, kids. Huddle up.
In case you haven’t noticed, with the beginning of July, summer is now halfway over. It’s time for us to have a summer halftime speech, get our butts in gear, and complete all those goals we ambitiously laid out at the end of May.
In May, we were so ready to have great outings, family time, and get crafting and cooking. Now that the summer is halfway over, we have consumed enough chicken nuggets to feed a third world country. We camped at a state park once, went to library story time once, and we’ve been to the zoo exactly zero times. We have a chore chart and a behavior chart, and yet our house is a constant mess. We had great plans, kids, and what have we done with them?
Nothing. Nada.
The ambitious list on the refrigerator haunts me each time I grab food.
What have we done with ourselves? We have watched more TV than is probably healthy. We have gone to the pool and gotten in trouble with the lifeguards enough that it’s sort of embarrassing to go back for a while. We have visited with friends, attended birthday parties and play dates, and pretty much attempted to not sweat to death.
Is this enough? Are you going to look back on this summer of your childhood as that time you spent 3,000 man hours binge-watching 15-minute Sprout shows OnDemand? Will you remember that we made artwork for Mimi and Granddad when they came to visit us? Will you remember that this was the year we decided to remove the training wheels from your bike and go for it? Will you remember that we made a dress for your doll and a huge bed for your matchbox cars one afternoon and brought them snacks like they were royalty?
Will you remember the fights with your siblings? Will you remember my sarcasm, then my louder sarcasm, then my all-out yelling because you wouldn’t stop fighting? Will you remember the morning that all three of you were in tears before 9 a.m. because I was so frustrated with you? Will you remember the times when I apologized to you for being grumpy and hoped you won’t remember me as perpetually grouchy? I really want to be the supermom for you even if I’m not great at showing it on some days.
I’m trying here.
We’ll be buying school supplies before you know it. We will go full-contact at Target to find the very best three-prong folders they have, and we’ll find backpacks at Pottery Barn Kids that are really expensive but super cute. We will sharpen your pencils and fill our calendar with soccer games, and school projects, and more birthday parties, and more play dates. We will hustle out the door to make it to school each and every morning and I will probably be grumpy (again) as I remind you (again) that you have to wear shoes to school and remember your backpack and your lunchbox and your permission slip and your library book.
But kids, we have a chance here at the halfway point to actually still meet our fun goals for the summer. See that list on the fridge? We put it there for a reason. Let’s cross something off that list tomorrow. It’s the summer, after all, and I want to have a great time with you.
Love, Mom
This post was originally published on Carrie On, Y’all.
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About Carrie Tinsley
Carrie Tinsley is a former high school English teacher, turned stay-at-home mom to three children. Her blog Carrie On, Y’all chronicles the misadventures of raising children through a lens of sarcasm, poor housekeeping skills, and mediocre attempts to stay sane. She lives in Arkansas (yes, people live there!) with her husband, three children, golden retriever, and fluffy cat. You can follow her on Facebook or Twitter (she doesn’t know how to work any other social media).