Okay I know it sounds silly - to take a vacation during the one season you normally work - but to be frank - it was getting a tad stale - and after killing myself for several years and being out the door early every single morning just when the air is fresh, the world quiet and the opportunities endless was kind of getting to me.
So I'm not running VBS or Stage Camp this summer. The VBS thing I'll let others do - there are other mothers quite capable of organizing themselves; my sister-in-law being one of them. And as my numbers for Stage Camp were dwindling ( okay I should advertise more) and my exhaustion increasing - it seemed like the summer to rejuvenate and re assess and other re thingys before ploughing ahead. Besides - I lost all last summer to the yard reno and I really want to enjoy the very expensive landscaping oasis this year.
That said I can't help myself. So what did I do?
Well after spending a small fortune on this backyard, and knowing we are going on a trip and sending both kids to overnight camp I decided we could at least save some funds by staying home for the rest of the time. So far so good. My kids love the idea - but they also love hiding in the basement playing computer games. Not so good. They need to do stuff. They need exercise. They need fresh air. They need to let their imaginations soar for a while. The conundrum is how to get them there.
First we informed them that summer vacation does not mean endless hours glued to a keyboard and monitor. Then because I'm not going to work all day and watch them sit on their butts - there would be chores. And then somehow my craft supplies got opened up, and ideas started forming and before you knew it my son Arthur ( now 6ft tall and almost 14) is asking for masking tape and spray paint and is happily "mod"ing his Nerf guns, and my daughter Miriam is making accessories for her bedroom. So a kind of craft camp has sprung up at our house and once again my time has been commandeered by my family. Okay I can still enjoy myself - they're both old enough to work pretty much unsupervised. So I get to garden and putter at little projects for around the house. and only occasionally do I need to instruct, redirect, or rein in someone's fantastic plans. So far I can cope.
Then because I want to share my beautiful new space - I invited my best friend and her kids to spend an afternoon playing with us. It was perfect. My two are old enough to supervise and engage her two, and that left us free to sit on the deck drinking cold drinks, eating an amazing combo of popcorn ( Chicago style) and yakking. As these kinds of afternoons go, eventually kids ate and swam, and we had worked our way through the various levels of chat from the superficial Facebook kind of catch up down through my kid did this bragging and finally settled into why you are my best friend soul searching talk we both really needed. And that's when she told me stuff that meant I knew she needed a) help, b) a break and c) my time. And then it was time to go and the looks on my friend's darling children's faces when they realized they weren't staying over night was heart breaking. I was so full of generous well being that I a) volunteered to reorganize another room in her farmhouse, b) offered the kids a 2night visit in August and c) that meant giving my time. So it looks like Camp Aunt will ride again. Stay posted.
Oh well. I really do enjoy doing this stuff.
