Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Summer Reigns King

It's summer.

I'm enjoying my kids now more than ever.  Each at their own phase and stage.  There's something to love, and something to groan about with each of them.  But I'm no rookie anymore.  I know it's but a blink before it's over and gone.

But the good stuff is fleeting too.  The cute stuff.  The "omigosh did you just hear what she said!" hilarity that you tell yourself you're going to write down so you can remember but never do.  I'm lucky if I even remember it enough to tell Brian at the end of the day.

Summer is my chance to be the mom I want to be.  To forget about the crumbs on the floor and the sticky spots left on my counter tops from chopping pineapple.  Maybe showering can happen later so that we can get to the park early.  So that I don't care if the humidity has left me all sweaty before noon.  So that I can set up the kiddie pool and wacky sprinkler in the backyard and not care about my hair getting ruined.

I want to schedule just enough activities so that they don't feel their vacation is being robbed but also so that they don't take their free time for granted.

I want my impending kindergartner to capture her confidence and feel the freedom as she whizzes around on a two-wheeler.
I want to watch my seven-year-old feel the satisfaction as his bat cracks a baseball at just the right spot.  And then I want to watch his eyes sparkle as he takes in a real life professional baseball game in a beautiful outdoor stadium.

I want to laugh as other parents gasp when my trapeze artist of a two-year-old climbs up to the tippiest toppiest part of the playground and then dangles over the edge with pure perfection.

I want to hear my baby boy beg for "shoes on! outside!" the minute his eyes pop open in the morning because he can't even believe all he was missing out on when he learned to walk and this place was covered with snow and ice.
I want to eat the freshest fruit of summer's harvest by the bowl-full.  And grill vegetables from the farmer's market.  And have ice cream every night after dinner.
I want to run next to the river every morning until my lungs burn because anything is better than being stuck inside on a treadmill.

I want to sip beer, good beer, on the patio with my love while we watch the four little lives we created frolic and fight and make up and scream and laugh.

I want to look the other way when the cashier at the local lawn and garden store rings up my total because, really, whoever complained about having too many flowers?

I want to feel the burn of too much sun and the itch of too many mosquitoes because you can't get that from watching too much television.

I want to watch the landscape slowly turn coniferous as we wind our way North and learn first-hand the true meaning of our state's famous tagline.

I want to listen to the yelps of glee as my kids jump into a lake so clean and so cold it could be mistaken for drinking water.

Let's have Popsicles.

And watch fireworks.

And roast things over a fire.

Let's go for a bike ride.

And then a long walk.

And then watch the sun set and the stars come out.
Let's catch a fish.

And see a movie play outside in a park.

And watch the thunderous rush of a real waterfall after too much rain.

Let's go barefoot.

Have a picnic.

Catch bugs.

Watch a thunderstorm roll in.
I want to turn off the air conditioner.

Listen to the birds.

Feel the breeze.

I want to collapse in bed every night feeling happily exhausted.  Full.  Complete.

This is it, folks.  Summer.  The one and only.  There will never be another one just like it.
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

Copyright © Mama Nash | Custom Blog Design by Lilipop Designs