Spring up, Fall Behind
After a summer of trying out their wings, all the chicks are in the nest again. And much as I have tried to apply the mental brakes to bidding summer farewell, the approach of fall is winning. What a summer it has been! We have run the gamut of weddings and funerals, visits and vacations, celebrations of milestones and taking care of the routine.
As I look back over the past several weeks, I am amazed at the variegated fabric of the summer of 2008. Our kids have had their own summer adventures. In some ways, it feels as if we've been standing on the ground, letting out the kite string while they fly. One went cross-country, two went cross-province, while their parents stayed by the phone in case of an emergency.
Family trips to the beach were few and far between not because there wasn't time, but because there wasn't the family! This is just a little strange for a mom who looks forward to these getaways. It just not as much fun to be the only one around to ask if I want to go! I always say yes, but it's too lonely to go by myself.
This summer has been a little precursor to the days when it will just be my husband and I at home. Fortunately, we found out that we still like being together without kids so I think we'll be o.k.
I've worked away at various projects that I set out as goals at the beginning of summer. It is a movable post though and as I look around I see lots of projects that didn't get attention as I thought they would. I am going to content myself with the fact that there were some projects that weren't on my list (cleaning the oven) that I got to, so that will balance out the disappointment that the basketball hoop is going to look sad and decrepit for another winter.
I am glad to report that I am not the only one who is feeling a little reticent to welcome the fall schedule. Other people have reported dragging their mental feet into this new part of the year. There is definitely something about the last week of August that throws us all into a tizzy of ambivalence.
Now it's "onto the next crisis" (as my mom would say). There's school supplies to buy - Yippee!!!!- an excuse to go hang out with paper supplies and drool over the latest post-it notes. There's schedules to make - o.k. this isn't so great, but who knows, maybe taking guitar lessons at 9 a.m. on a Saturday won't be so bad... There's lunch items to stock up on - maybe I'll just dig back into the cupboard for the ones I put away in June...think they'll notice? And there's re connections to make with friends we lost touch with over the summer when everyone scattered.
As the old song (and verse) expresses
.....'Turn,Turn, Turn....there is a season.....'
As I look back over the past several weeks, I am amazed at the variegated fabric of the summer of 2008. Our kids have had their own summer adventures. In some ways, it feels as if we've been standing on the ground, letting out the kite string while they fly. One went cross-country, two went cross-province, while their parents stayed by the phone in case of an emergency.
Family trips to the beach were few and far between not because there wasn't time, but because there wasn't the family! This is just a little strange for a mom who looks forward to these getaways. It just not as much fun to be the only one around to ask if I want to go! I always say yes, but it's too lonely to go by myself.
This summer has been a little precursor to the days when it will just be my husband and I at home. Fortunately, we found out that we still like being together without kids so I think we'll be o.k.
I've worked away at various projects that I set out as goals at the beginning of summer. It is a movable post though and as I look around I see lots of projects that didn't get attention as I thought they would. I am going to content myself with the fact that there were some projects that weren't on my list (cleaning the oven) that I got to, so that will balance out the disappointment that the basketball hoop is going to look sad and decrepit for another winter.
I am glad to report that I am not the only one who is feeling a little reticent to welcome the fall schedule. Other people have reported dragging their mental feet into this new part of the year. There is definitely something about the last week of August that throws us all into a tizzy of ambivalence.
Now it's "onto the next crisis" (as my mom would say). There's school supplies to buy - Yippee!!!!- an excuse to go hang out with paper supplies and drool over the latest post-it notes. There's schedules to make - o.k. this isn't so great, but who knows, maybe taking guitar lessons at 9 a.m. on a Saturday won't be so bad... There's lunch items to stock up on - maybe I'll just dig back into the cupboard for the ones I put away in June...think they'll notice? And there's re connections to make with friends we lost touch with over the summer when everyone scattered.
As the old song (and verse) expresses
.....'Turn,Turn, Turn....there is a season.....'
Comments
Wouldn't it be fun to celebrate New Years in September--we already do the mental countdown...
JC