A Summer Latte

Summer is flying by! The last six weeks have been a blur of Disneyworld, pool, playdates, Hilton Head, humidity, trips to Starbucks, Super Mario on the Wii, and more time at the pool. I had visions of being organized this summer - packing a picnic for a walk to the pool each day, educational and fun outings in the afternoons. I was going to give up caffeine and write new lattes at least once a week. Then reality set in. After a week of packing lunches, pushing the stroller to the pool and spending several hours each day in the sun, I was exhausted, sunburned, and my house was a mess.

I don't think I've found the summer balance, yet. Today is a playdate day. My kids need to be entertained by friends every few days so that we don't all go a little crazy. My house is still a mess, but that is really nothing new. A lovely new Starbucks opened near us, and Mason and I biked there yesterday morning to check it out. Maybe I'll go there to write one of these days, in my mind I've composed at least a dozen lattes about a wedding, video games, family vacations, and organizing pictures to name a few.

In no time at all, the summer will be over and I will be both relieved and sad. I am enjoying this time that I have with my kids, but I also struggle to let them make their own choices and to not get mad when things go wrong. They all make their own beds in the morning, it's getting a little easier for me to not go in and remake them to my liking each day. Tomorrow morning I'll pack some lunches, load up the stroller, and we'll go to the pool. Perhaps we'll all learn something along the way so that I can chalk it up as an educational summer outing.