We invented a new game called Golfiator, which is kind of like a mix of golf and gladiator (no chariots). Goes like this: we're all in the yard with pitching wedges and whiffle ball golf balls. We try to hit each other, but you have to be a fair target, meaning you have to stand still if there's a ball coming at you. The adults and teens are worth 5 points. Jakey the 5er is worth 10 points, but if you tag him when he's running or in motion, it's an automatic win. Play up to 25 points. Winner gets a 30 second victory dance.
I spend the long, drawn-out Minnesota winter dreaming of those nights that you can hear the crickets and frogs outside your window. When I unpack the summer clothes, I get excited for tank tops and flip flops. And for the first month, I'm usually obliged. But if the temps crease 80, the windows get shut and the frog sounds disappear. My tank tops get covered and I curl up under the same blanket that I use in Janaury to watch tv. It pisses me off.
This week I begin my battle against Summer Slide! Did you know that sunshine and fresh air create happy thoughts of such toxicity that they erode all those math and reading gains from the school year? One way to fight summer slide, from the Reading Rockets website: Six Books to Summer Success. "Research shows that reading just six books during the summer may keep a struggling reader from regressing." Imagine how proud I will feel when, in August, we tally up our summer reading scores to discover that my own child has read six more books than I have! Unless I can count a month of mornings spent on DListed as one book?
I had my first real day of summer the other day. The husband was working all day, the big kids were otherwise engaged, and I found myself alone with the 5er for the whole day. With nothing planned.
At first I felt a little panic: didn't I have to plant something or clean something or prepare for some major event? But no. Everything that can be planted was, everything that could be cleaned was in ok shape, and all major events had taken place. We were free.
Just wondering, what's the general opinion about kids and summer jobs? Is a 14er too young, should they be allowed to enjoy the care-free fun of summer days before becoming enslaved in the work-force like the rest of us? What about 16? If you drive, shouldn't you be paying for your own gas? I feel like I've had a job since I was 5.
I think my kids are addicted to adrenaline. School's out, the stress of finals are over, today is the first real Monday of Summer, and I've already heard it: I'm bored. You know you're going to hear it too. Maybe we can get a collection of activities started, like a big yummy idea pool in which we can dip for responses to the dreadful phrase.
