I have been invited to participate in a Blog Carnival by the Silicon Valley Moms Blog!
I am not letting the fact I don't actually live in the Silicon Valley dissaude me. Hopefully, it won't dissuade them when they figure it out. (Hey, I *want* to live there. I'm calling that Close Enough.)
So here is my lovely post, all about my Favorite Summer Experiences. It got me reminiscing on wonderful summer moments with the girls from the last couple years, and realizing I'm not really having any this summer. Here it is: The Random MomentsOne of my favorite summer experiences is from last year. As a stay at home, we went out and did things every morning - the park, a friends house, the farmer's market. But by the end of the day, I was exhausted, and we would go home.
We got into the habit, another stay at home mom down the street and I, of checking in with each other about that time of day. If it all worked out, we'd let our girls play together. It provided a nice, needed break for one of us - we alternated - and the girls loved it.
One day, it was my turn for the break, and afterwards I wandered down the street to retrieve Little Big Girl. All the girls, ages 2, 3 and 4, were in the backyard playing, where there was a little wading pool set up.
The girls were done swimming, but they were now down to their birthday su*ts – except for a diaphanous set of butterfly wings on each girl’s back. They were chasing each other through the yard, around the trees and through the shrubs. The late afternoon sun glowed on their hair, and they laughed and giggled as they chased each other around. They were completely unaware of how amazingly adorable it was.
Another favorite memory was from late spring of the year before. I met up with a girlfriend at a park in town. Little Big Girl was just two, the same age as my friend's little boy. The day was warm but not yet hot.
All of a sudden, the sprinklers in the park came on. Our two little ones got so excited, they ran off - running from one sprinkler to the next, each new one drawing them on, over the hills and away. The kids waved their arms in excitement, their laughter floating back to us.
Finally, we called them back. Eventually they ran up to us, out of breath. It was still a chilly day, but they were drenching wet. Aren’t you cold, honey? I asked Little Big Girl. No! she said emphatically. It was refreshing!
I have no idea where she’d learned that word, or that phrase. She was only two.
And from last summer, at the pool. Although it’s hot in the summer here, I couldn’t figure out when to take the girls to the pool. Mornings in an arid climate are too chilly, my little ones needed rest mid-day, and early afternoon meant the monsoon clouds (or if we were lucky, rain).
My girlfriends finally convinced me the time to go was late afternoon, through dinner. The day was still hot, the water was warm. It was perfect. (I resisted. Packing dinner? I can hardly * make * dinner!) But they were right, and we fell into a really nice habit. Once a week or so, the two or three families would meet out at the pool. We’d pack our dinners, our husbands would meet us there after work, and the kids would splash and play, and have a great time.
That memory reminds me, in contrast, of a woman I know, vaguely, from home. She still lives in our hometown and belongs to our childhood summer club. And she spends all day, every day, at the club, by the pool.
She seems incredibly happy, and in fact very proud, of the fact she now emulates what she thought our moms did (mine, in fact – harbinger here! – never did that). But the truth is, I couldn’t do it. I absolutely could not spend all day, every day, watching my kids at the pool. The organization – all that packing, all that food preparation, all that sunscreen. But mostly - all that tedium.
But perhaps I have gone too far the other way. My favorite memories from the last few summers are from the things that just happened when we were casually hanging around, at the pool, or the park - not doing something organized or planned. In short, the things that happen randomly as a stay at home mom. Yet starting this summer, I have gone back to work.
And so although it’s mid-July, I feel like summer hasn’t started yet. We’ve been to the pool once or twice. Had the baby blowup pool in the backyard filled up once. Haven't seen the neighbor girls at all. My girls go to their babysitter, and hang out with her all day. They have a schedule, and some park time, along with rest time, lunch and snack.
It hardly feels like summer at all.
[Addendum: Turns out it won't matter I don't live in North Cali, and it won't matter that you don't, either! Turn in your own submission to: Mom Bloggers Carnival dot cam. Can't wait to see your link there!]
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