peskypippi.comBecause I have a lot to say…

It is nearing the end of summer and our family is a bit weathered. You can feel the energy slowly eeking, wearing us down.

• My kids seem tired. Too much playing? Too much fun?

• The flowers are spent. Too much blooming? Too much color?

• The car is filthy. Too many road trips? Too many activities? Too many snacks?

• My skin is weathered. Too much sun?

The community pool is now closed for the summer. Already. Drained. Empty. A drained pool is so depressing, I tweeted. My friend @RayChatie tweeted, “I love this tweet! In a simple fact it speaks of emptiness when once there was joy, the passage of time, memories of lost days.”

Time to rest up this week and re-energize because Fall is upon us. Next week: Labor Day. Bringing early morning schedules, school, homework, shuttling, deadlines, practices, commitments, appointments, kids’ sports, activities, meetings.

All the “have tos” that are Fall in a busy family.

Good-bye Summer. We will miss you.

“I’m bored.”

You’re WHAT??!!

I can’t accept boredom from children. My children or anyone’s children. At my house. In the middle of summer.

• There are crafts. Bendaroos. Play-doh. Modeling clay. Water paint. Acrylics. Markers. Stickers. Stamps. Hole punchers.
• There’s a puppy. He loves to play. And cuddle. And wrestle. And fetch.
• There’s Xbox 360 and Kinect. Party games, sports games, Lego games, shooter games, dance games.
• There are board games. Would You Rather? Sorry. Monopoly. Trouble. Operation. Bird Bingo. And about 20 others.
• There are outside toys. Bikes. Scooters. Pogo Stick. Roller skates. Full-size basketball hoop. Chalk. Giant bubbles. Frisbees.
• There’s an outside swimming pool, sandbox, swingset. Or I’d be happy to set up the sprinkler.
• Nerf guns. AirSoft guns if you’re over 13.
• Oh yeah and what about tag. Kick ball. Hide-and-go-seek.
• Snacks. Pizza. Juice. Ice cream sandwiches. Watermelon cut in wedges.
• There are Legos. Zoobles. Littlest Pet Shop. Star Wars figures. Ponies. Barbies. And, oh, about 58 stuffed animals.
• Movies. Take your pick.

Do kids really need prompting these days? Do they need an activity list of things to choose from?

Yikes.

When I was a kid and was told, “Go and play.” I did. And I didn’t ask what to play.

I chased after the ice cream truck on my bike. My sister and I played Frogger on Atari. I read everything by Judy Blume. I showed my friend how Barbie and Ken could make babies. I sketched. I played kickball and Nerf football with the neighbor kids in the street. I caught frogs and lightning bugs at my Dad’s. I did rubber stamps and stickers. I sprawled on my friend’s pink carpet while listening to the Grease soundtrack. I crank-called strangers. I practiced kissing in the mirror. I tried out cookie recipes. I wrote in my diary. I bought Fun Dip and Jolly Rancher Sticks at 7-11. I stared at the clouds. I watched The Brady Bunch and The Beverly Hillbillies. I made those goofy nylon potholders with my goofy potholder loom.

And if I said “I’m bored,” I would be given chores, which quickly shut me up.

So, if you’re a kid at my house and I hear “I’m bored,” I just may hand you a shovel. And you can pick up dog poop. #choices

What are some of the things YOU did as a kid?

I have come up with a lazy-days-of-summer-to-do list. Let’s call it my Summer Bucket List:

1. Eat Doritos tacos at Taco Bell. Done!
2. Pig out at Cold Stone.
3. Run through the sprinklers.
4. Cheer at the rodeo.
5. Ride a dozen rides and pet the piglets at the fair.
6. Have a handful of picnics. One down!
7. Hike around the lake. Find a brand new place to hike.
8. Go to the drive-in movie before it closes forever.
9. Bowl with the family and eat nachos (and share a pitcher of beer–maybe two–with my husband)
10. Open swim. Family swim. Whatever. Get my butt in a swimsuit and go!
11. Pick peaches.
12. Go camping.
13. Paint my daughter’s and my toenails a new color every other week. Neon orange…done!
14. Pet Otis-the-puppy as much as possible.
15. Shoot off fireworks on the 4th.
16. Pick a wildflower bouquet.
17. Read in the shade of my swing.
18. Make a berry cobbler.
19. Play frisbee.
20. Lay in the grass and watch the clouds go by.

What’s on YOUR summer bucket list?

You know you’re too busy when…your child doesn’t have time to poop because you are rushing from activity to activity.

That’s when you know that you have too much going on. And that’s when you know you have turned into PSYCHO MOM.

School. Playdates. Doctor appointments. Extra curricular activities. Sports. Lessons.

When is enough enough?

It is enough when your child gets home from school, goes upstairs to poop, but you stop him mid-poop and yell, “HURRY UP! GET YOUR PIANO BOOKS! WE’RE GONNA BE LATE FOR YOUR PIANO LESSON!”

Do we want to speed through childhood and life? So much that we can’t even go to the bathroom?

This week was my breaking point. It is now time to reassess. And maybe not sign up for that extra summer camp.

Am I turning into the type of mother who over schedules her children? One of those psycho Moms that I find annoying? The kind whose children are so busy, they don’t have any down time to simply lie in the shade to discover that grass blades indeed make great whistles?

Summer is upon us. We need to drop something. Lower expectations. Something.

I used to believe in only one activity per child at a time. Then one activity turned into two. But does swim lessons count as an activity or is it a necessity? I care and want my children to be well-rounded and interesting and active. But I also want them to be happy. Are they happy when they are rushing from activity to activity? Their distressed faces tell me otherwise.

With three kids, there’s soccer, piano lessons, gymnastics, art class, horseback riding, football. Three kids multiplied by x number of activities. Now we’ve got an algebra problem. And I suck at math.

As a child, sure I had lessons–tennis, ballet, gymnastics, swimming, horseback riding, even drama and cooking class–but I also remember having lots of free time. Idle time. Play time.

Run-through-the-streets-to-chase-after-the-ice-cream-truck time. Time to loll with my friends in the shade and pick blades of grass to turn them into whistles.

Fast forward a few decades and now I’m yelling at my child to hurry up while he’s pooping? Yikes.

I don’t want to be THAT kind of Mom. I want my children to be happy. And have plenty of time for pooping and whistling.

Hanging out with the cool peeps at Yeah Write. Check out other cool bloggers here: