Summer Begins

Today our summer break REALLY begins.  Although Annie finished her math book the first week of July, Finn and I decided that he needed to work on math through July 31st.  Well: today is July 31st! It's 5:15 pm and he's finishing up his last math lesson and test.  I have allowed him to have the option of choosing when he does his math this month, and I've been amused to see how much he procrastinates it when I'm not directing him!  So perhaps as of dinner tonight, he will be finished and we can rejoice because we will have five full weeks off.

I realized recently that I desperately need some summer time off without big house projects.

Last summer, feeling a pang of guilt at how topsy-turvy the previous school year had been (due to cancer), we started school in July.  I have already discussed the fact that I got really burned out in late summer and early fall.  It was a big, big mistake for me to start schoolwork in July. I won't do that again!  Another big mistake was taking on far too many activities for my children--between the two of them, we had no fewer than seven different activities per week.  Seven places to be.  (Not counting church on Sunday.) 

So last summer was not restful--we threw ourselves into schoolwork, and then when mid-August came, we had so many activities, too!

The summer before that was entirely consumed by my husband's surgery, week in the hospital, recovery month, and then living for 2 months in another state for cancer treatments...then 3 months back at home when he was done with treatments but so, so, so very sick.  So I didn't have a "summer break" in 2018, either.

 One of the silver linings of the cloud of this pandemic has been that I have had the opportunity to really do some pondering, soul-searching, and thinking about what we can drop, particularly since our oncologist has given us guidelines of what we need to do to be sure my husband stays healthy.  We are cutting way, way back on "extras" this year: only keeping music lessons for each child, Spanish class and French tutoring for Finn (who is working on high school credits), and ballet for Annie, who has just "graduated" to the big girl class where they take lessons twice week and have ribbons on their shoes!  That's it.  And that's enough. The Holy Spirit has placed such peace in my heart. I desperately needed this margin after pushing myself so hard for the past couple of years. 

July has been a month to check off my to-do list: a total reorganization and decluttering of our entire basement (schoolroom, mechanical room, laundry/sewing area).  Completely de-cluttering and cleaning both kids' rooms--that was a REAL JOB in Annie's room!! Finishing up all my school planning for the upcoming year.  Moving a LOT of furniture (we rented a u-haul!) to my sister's new home an hour and a half away... check, check, check. All I have left to do is finish painting our dining room furniture and do the weeding and mulching in our extensive flower beds--but I've already started both of those projects, and in general, I like both of those activities.  We will also go to my sister's house again to help her with some unpacking and settling in.  But otherwise, I'm very intentionally exercising self-discipline and not beginning any more projects at all.  

I need to paint our living room and trim, re-paint the kitchen cabinets (it has been 11 years since I first did it!!), and do a few other projects, but I'm just not going to do them. They can wait. 

Instead, I want to relax.  I want to take my children to the creek, read books, and rest.  I want to make ice cream, play games, and watch The Sound of Music and Wives and Daughters. I want to go to Grandma's Pool (due to covid we were not able to join our usual pool this year--such a bummer, as that's one of my favorite summertime things!).  I want to play badminton and go get ice cream cones (yes, ice cream seems to be a frequent theme!!). I want to enjoy my children; they are growing up so quickly, and as my father always says, "time and tide wait for no man." (I think that's Chaucer.:))

Alright--one test and a few lesson corrections to go...come on, Finn!  Let's get summer started here!