Monday, October 12, 2009

Breathe

AKA what happened to the summer?

I'm really not sure where the summer went. (The fact that it is now October has not escaped me, so it seems I've missed the beginning of fall too.)

I know where summer didn't go. It didn't go to the dyeing experiments I had planned, except for one teeny tiny one with 'Parkle Girl. It didn't go to sewing any of the projects I had planned, with or without that 'Parkley helper. It didn't go to weekend trips to our favorite outdoor and hiking spots. It didn't go to working on the landscape, or to organizing the house, or to cleaning out the basement so there would be room for a freezer.

Instead, it seems like the summer went to a school year that extended almost into July. Really. It went to getting Universe Man ready for overnight camp (and the less said about that, the better). It went to ferrying all 3 of the kids all over the place. It went to camp and piano lessons and speech therapy, and most of all, it seems, to work.

When I started this gig, the idea was that I would have more time to parent more effectively. And to keep the house more organized, but that was the fringe benefit. I have no opinion right now about parenting more effectively (though I suspect that at least two of my children might have very firm opinions about that), but I certainly don't seem to have more time to parent. As far as I can tell, I seem to have less. I seem to be spending more evenings and nights working, which means less time with the kids. I'm not entirely sure how that happened, but it's something that I've got to change.

Starting next week. I've got too much work this week.

2 comments:

Alison said...

I can so relate to this post. I felt like I was just ready for summer to begin just as it was time to get ready for back-to-school...now fall is barreling along at breakneck speed. Don't even get me started on the state of the house or the undone projects—truly fightening...oh well it's October...time for scary, right?! Thanks for your honesty and for the gentle reminder to "Breathe" —needed that this morning!

SuperM said...

I'm glad I'm not the only one. I've never had a summer quite as crazy as this past one. I'm holding out hope that the rest of the fall doesn't go by at such a break-neck pace.