Summertime.

I’m sitting here looking at my calendar in complete denial that summer is halfway over. There has got to be some trickery going on with the space-time continuum. I swear that every single year goes by faster than the last, and summer is on an even warpier speed than the rest of the seasons. No me gusta.

It’s not like summer carries away my usual burden of stress and worries. My head spins at its usual rate like a methed up hamster on its wheel, but my kids have such a better quality of life during their 10 weeks out of school, and that’s all that matters. I wish it would last longer. My kids are growing up too fast, and they need this time to be kids even though they are being hurtled towards adulthood at a pace that is very uncomfortable for me….and them.

I can start to see and appreciate the concept of unschooling or forest/nature/outdoor schools every time summer rolls around. The school year has them sitting at desks for hours on end and then loaded down with homework every evening and often weekends. They have no time to unwind. Don’t get me wrong, I am a huge advocate for education, but please….let the kids breathe. They have forever to sit in front of screens within the confines of four walls as they try to make a living and scrape enough savings up to escape for maybe two weeks of “freedom” per year as adults.

This is why I love summer so much. No rush to get up and ready in the mornings. No hours at the dinner table trying to finish assignments when already mentally exhausted. No pressure. They have a lightness about them that I treasure and which only comes with childhood. I want to conserve that as much and as long as possible…but I know it will extinguish the minute school starts in just over a month.

My kids go to day camp every summer. Nothing fancy, high-tech, or competitive. They wake up late, play flag football, softball, go kayaking and swimming. They sit on the grass and laugh and talk with their friends. Daisy chains are made, ice cream parties are enjoyed, knees get scabbed, cheeks become kissed by the sun. Screens get left behind for a solid 6 hours and aren’t even missed. I pick them up sweaty, tired, and hungry.

We don’t live in a time or part of the country where kids go out and play on their own anymore. Everyone has Discord or FaceTime playdates now…..so day camp is how I ensure that my two get full days’ worth of activities outside the confines of a room or house. My son, who is 15, is now training to be a Junior Counselor for the camp and I see how proud he is of being in charge of the younger campers and how they look up to him. My daughter comes home with messy hair, sun kissed cheeks, and not a single worry about who is saying what on the latest group text. I want this to last forever.

Target already has all of the Back-to-School paraphernalia on display. It’s a rude reminder that my kids only have their freedom for a few more weeks. I have to remind myself, and them, to stay in the moment and enjoy every watermelon juice-sticky day, every accidental sunburn, every sore muscle from running outside, every lazy morning, every water gun fight. Savor each day like that cherry lime slushy from the heladero, because summers are fleeting, and childhood even more so…..

header photo by Dana Tentis @pixabay