I hate summer

It's time for my annual rant about how I hate summer. 

I hate summer.

Why? 

First, it's hot. I am pale-skinned, pale-eyed, pale-haired. I can feel my skin burning in the sun and the heat. I don't feel endorphin-induced euphoria from running around in the sun or relaxing on the beach. I can "lay out" for a grand total of 10 minutes before I flee for the shade. When I was a kid, my mother never sent me to the park district's day camp. I always thought it was because (a) she never remembered the registration date or (b) she didn't work and didn't need the day care element of day camp, but now I wonder if it's because she knew I would come home complaining of a day spent in the sun.

Second, and more importantly, like those economically disadvantaged children discussed in study after study, article after article, I experience brain drain. I feel myself getting stupider by the day as my brain melts out my mouth with the heat and humidity of an archetypical July day in Chicago. 

This is, of course, hyperbole. The very fact that I am writing this post, reading articles like these, and plowing through my stack of both non-fiction books and novels suggests that I remain engaged in the process of learning even through the dog days of summer. 

But it seems a lot harder to do anything in summer. My countdown to the first day of school (30 days, by the way) usually begins on the first week of summer vacation, as my tendency toward free-range parenting kicks me in the ass when I realize that my summer plans for my children of playdates and pool have been dashed by that over which I have no control: day camp, vacations, and the weather.

It's July 26th and I am out of ideas. I cannot seem to muster the kind of "isn't this great?!" cheerleading that seems to accompany most child-centered activities. A few months ago, I read a book on organizational psychology called Drive, by Daniel Pink. Pink's theory is that individuals are most motivated by doing things that are intrinsically satisfying rather than "incentivizing" individuals to perform certain tasks. Modern parenting, it seems to me, is one giant game of carrot-and-stick. One that I am not particularly interested in playing today. 

Lazy Summer Day

Today marked the first real day of summer vacation. Thankfully, it was also a warm, sunny day so we could enjoy it.

We started the day by going to Disney II playground for a rising-1st-grader playdate. The Boy protested; he wanted to have a "regular summer day." Um, what? But The Girl really wanted to see her friends and I wanted to see mine, so we went to the park. The Boy spent the first 20 minutes yanking on the door handle of the car and crying, but eventually rallied to play with his friends and former-recent classmates.

We went home for lunch and lots of playing in the backyard. Our neighbor came by about 1/2 an hour before her nap and asked The Boy and The Girl to ride bikes in the front sidewalk while her babysitter watched. So they did that and I put The Tot down for a nap. When he woke up, we went to Baskin-Robbins (The Girl calls it "Justin Roberts") for ice creams. The Tot was quite possessive of his lopsided mint-chip cone, and refused to let me lick it evenly -- and the whole scoop toppled. Fortunately for me, he didn't seem to notice and was happy to crunch his remaining sugar cone. As seems to always be the case in this particular BR-DD, there were 2 police officers talking to a senior citizen at a nearby table and they seemed to find The Tot's incident amusing.

We ran to Target afterward, and I seem to be learning something after 6 years of parenting because it was a short trip for the 3 things on our list and little browsing as the kids were all pretty wired from the ice cream. When we got home, The Dad took everyone outside to play with the neighbors, ride bikes and play in the backyard. A very nice summer day.

School's Out for the Summer

And we celebrated by lots of crying and sassing, and a single swat on the bum for good measure. Ay yi yi yi, it's going to be a long summer.

Really, we zoomed out of school at 10 a.m. and headed up to Schaumburg to go to IKEA. We had tried to go on Thursday after our playdate with Melissa, but The Tot fell asleep and we abandoned the plan, so The Boy and The Girl really wanted to go today. We got there about 11:40 and went straight for lunch, then headed back down to Smalland, which was full with a crowd of kids waiting to get in. Apparently, everyone else had the same plan to go to IKEA rather than spend another day watching the rain and shivering, even though the weather surprised us with some sun and oppressive humidity.

So we wandered around and looked at dishes, bookcases, beds, as-is, outdoor stuff, and the kids' area. I bought only dishes and placemats. The Girl decided that it would be a good idea to ram the cart containing said dishes and The Tot into bookcases and glass partitions, and would not be deterred or restrained in her pursuit of this activity. That's how she got the bum swat. And did not get our regular post-IKEA ice-cream treat. No one did, although The Boy was really well behaved. And he took the ice cream news really well.

Afterward, we drove to U.S. Toys in Skokie to buy journaling notebooks for The Boy. I suggested that he keep an occasional journal about his summer adventures, and knew they'd have teaching materials of that nature. If anyone is interested, I'll transcribe his sentiments in his blog. US Toys also has lots of toys and art supplies; The Boy spent some of his allowance money on a Playmobil racecar and I spent a lot of mine on tempera paint, Shrinky Dinks for The Girl, a Toby train for The Tot, and various other things to keep everyone occupied during the down times.

Then we went home, stopping at Dominick's on Cumberland on the way for dinner fixins and right-now snacks.

School Supplies!

I am such a geek. The Boy's Kindergarten preparation/registration packet came yesterday in the mail. In it were a welcome letter for me and The Dad, a welcome letter for The Boy, schedule and run-through of a typical day, teacher name and information, curriculum information, and lists of school supplies. School supplies! I love back-to-school supplies. It's June and he just got out of school for the summer; he doesn't go back until September 2, and yet, I'm totally geeked about school supplies.

I thinkI must have really liked school as a kid. At least the academic/learning part. Every few months, I have a "trying to finish school" dream. It's usually a sign that I need to take a class or learn something new. I've been busy learning how to get my kid into CPS, so I haven't had one in awhile. I just joined Facebook and have noted all the Graduate School Year notations on my friends' names; I really want to go back to school myself, but in my professional field, there is no real point. I've been promising myself a French (conversation) class for awhile; I hope to take one this fall. Once upon a time, I was a fluent in that language. I used to stay current in my French with a trip to France or a French-speaking area every few years, but the American dollar is so weak (and, uh, I have 3 kids!) that I have little chance of jetting over to Lyon anytime soon.

The end is nigh

The Boy has 3 days left of school before summer vacation begins. Talk on the playground at pick-up has dwindled away from fall 2008 matriculation and toward summer vacation plans. I have so many things I want to do this summer, although I'm sure that I have not adequately prepared for any of them:

• join a pool
• go to Kiddieland
• rent/borrow a beach cottage in Michigan/Indiana/Wisconsin for a week
• hire a babysitter once/week
• visit Super Grandpa in Indiana
• visit family in Michigan on Lake St. Clair
  
• go to Minneapolis-St. Paul to visit The Girl's birthday twin and her parents
• take the water taxi between Navy Pier and the museum campus peninsula
  
• go to lots of museums and parks
  

The Boy and The Girl are going to daycamp through the park district (at different parks) for 6 weeks. And The Boy and I are going to Seattle to visit Uncle Chris for a weekend in June. How is it that summer is upon us already?