In two short hours, I will collect my five year old son from school for the final time until September.
Three. Long. Months.
He will no longer be a kindergartener. I will no longer have quiet time in the morning in which to work for my husband's company, clean the house, exercise by myself, write this blog or do our grocery shopping.
I suppose I'm about to shift into my least favorite parental role - the one woman entertainment crew. Despite the fact that he will have his adorable little sister to play with and that we will be taking swimming lessons four days per week starting next Monday, my son has already told me how bored he is going to be this Summer - stuck at home with us.
Which calls to mind a conversation I engaged in fairly frequently with my mother as a child.
"I'm bored."
"Only boring people get bored. Go use that great brain of yours and invent something to do!"
"But that's boring!"
(Sigh.)
I'm sure that my own mother could make the case that I am now experiencing my karma for everything I put her through for years on end.
I would argue though, that dealing with one bored kid is perhaps less angst-producing than dealing with three bored kids. One bored kid is not likely to physically harm himself out of boredom... (he might fall asleep, but that would be a good thing). When you put two or three bored kids together, it can get nuts pretty fast.
Here is a sampling of the type of things I overhear when my children are bored - all of which let me know that I'd better move quickly to distract them before we have escalation:
- "Hey, can I look in your BumBum (bottom) to see what is in there?"
- "Hey! (gigglegigglegiggle) Look at what I'm DOING!!!"
- "Stop it!!! Stop it!!! STOP IT!!!! DON'T SIT ON ME!"
- "Brother, why don't we make our own lunch today? You get the milk."
- "Give ME the scissors! I want to be a haircutter!"
- "Look! I'm can fly!"
- "Is that poopoo? I think that's poopoo!"
- "Hand me the toothpaste."
- "Oh NO!!! Do you see what she's doing?!!! Mommmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!"
Their 'bored-child' antics are often frustrating, sometimes dangerous and invariably entertaining. I would probably be laughing *with* them, if they weren't my children and my responsibility.
* * * * * *
Given that I'm working hard with the Law of Attraction to focus on drawing in positive things to our family and actively reframing my thoughts from the negative into a more optimistic light, I'd like to take this opportunity to create a heartfelt wish list submitted metaphysically to the Greek Goddess of Summer (Demeter?) to ask for what I REALLY want over the next three months.
Dear Demeter -
Thanks for listening. As you know, my kid will be out of school for the year in about 55 minutes. This means that I will have two or three small children with me for nearly every moment of the next 90 days. Did I mention that 90 days is a very, very long time in the life of a child?
I appreciate your assistance and would be so grateful if you could please arrange the following:
-My son loves spending time with his sister and I every morning
-My children get along better than ever
-My house stays reasonably organized and clean
-My children actually enjoy helping me with projects: gardening, organizing, washing cars, keeping our family operating like a well-oiled machine
-We have a surprise windfall of cash that enables a Disneyland trip, a family vacation and some more summer camps.
-My children learn how to speak appreciatively for the things they are given, and do not fixate on the negative or their own feelings of lack
-We have a lot of fun playdates and make new friends!
-We become closer as a family
-Everyone stays healthy and gets a lot of exercise
-We're able to throw a super fun family birthday party in August complete with a Jumpy for the kiddos, tons of food and great music
-We end the Summer so happily that my children are almost sorry to return to their normal school schedule in September
Lastly, I'd so appreciate anything you could possibly do to infuse the warmth of your weather into my children's hearts and minds, to make them feel sun-shiny on the inside and happy wherever they are.
Demeter, as a mother yourself I know you understand the need to take a break now and then. After all, you and your own daughter spend Winters apart, right? When she's down visiting Hades? You've gotta admit - sometimes it's nice to have a little peace.
I'm so grateful for anything you can do to help keep that tranquility in my house this Summer, even with no breaks and two to three children underfoot.
Thanks again for the hot weather and sunny skies. We're big fans of your work! All our best to you and Persephone...
* * * * * *
Time has flown by this morning and it's now 12:01p.m. I guess the moment has at last arrived to strap on my boots and step up to this new challenge.
Mothers of the world, be well and take care! May the Force be with you. Call me if you're heading to the park.
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