We made it through the first full week of Summer break – and I’m still alive!

I intended on writing this before Summer break started so I could lay out my expectations of how I thought it might really go just so I wouldn’t be too caught off guard when I’m head butted out of my idyllic summer vacation cottage in the clouds. So far, a week in, I haven’t been too far off.

What Summer Break Will Really Be Like

Summer break will be…

Discombobulated, messy, chaotic

The kitchen will be messy –

Plates will pile up, Water will spill.

I’ll find sticky stuff on mysterious places that I don’t even want to know.

Toys and stuff – everywhere – here, there, anywhere but where they are supposed to stay neatly tucked in and only looked at but never played with.

The kids will whine and squabble

– about nothing.at.all, then they will argue about what nothing is.

There will be tears

from everyone [even me].

Things will break [hopefully no limbs]

And get lost or ruined.

It will be hot & stuffy as the walls close in on us and I’ll probably crash in exhaustion at the end of the day – or even before Noon.

Seats will be fought over, accusations and claims over who touched and looked at who when, where and how many times.

Tall tales will be tattled

The Nuh-uh-Uh-Huh! song will play over and over and over along with the

“Mama, Mama, Mama! Mama!! MaaamMamamama!!! chant.

“Raised voices” Yelling and exasperated dragon-mama fuming and grunting [I hate it but it will happen]

Kids sent to their rooms, the chair, any open and available corner just so long as I don’t have to see or hear you until the fire in my chest dies down and my eyeballs return to regular size and my jaws unclench.

And – despite all the many toys, games, books, devices and craft projects available – they will get “bored” and say there is “nothing to do” and “nothing to eat” as they stare into a full fridge and pantry.

Those are the draining not-so-fun parts of summer break every mother dreads…

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Yet…[turn glass over]

We get a break –

from homework

alarms, bells, and tardies

expectations, deadlines, sign-ups, and oh-by-the-way-I-need-this-by-today mornings.

To relax, spend time with each other –

Reading, fun learning enrichment, exploring, creating, snoring

in the hammock, lounging

by the pool, on the couch or maybe even a picnic at the park (along with the ants, wasps, and wind in the land of a thousand suns).

Bubbles, sidewalk art, jump rope and freeze tag

Friends, family, visitors and the random neighbor kids

Flashlight hide-n-seek, blanket forts and camp-outs in the back yard

Running through the sprinklers, water squirters

Fun, Fun, Fun!

Popsicles, lemonade stands, bike rides and ice cream Sundays [with fudgy brownies, whipped cream and a cherry on top if you’d like]

Adventures, discovery, reunions and recharging

Characters built, relationships strengthened (by challenge)

Yes, there will be whining, screaming, and yelling [and not just from the kids]

There will also be –

Giggles, laughter, snuggling, and precious moments that last but a flash and seep in for a lifetime.

What I’m trying to remember –

Summer break – like all life – is not one big event, it’s a collection of individual and varying moments and memories – good, bad, exhausting, exhilarating, frustrating, encouraging, infuriating, joyful. Live them all, then decide which ones you really want to keep.