I really like to do fun things. I love to go on vacations. I love going on outings to museums or amusement parks. I love to fill my days with things outside of the house. So why didn't I do any of them this summer???? How did the summer just slip away from me? At first, I felt kind of lazy and ashamed for making my kids have a boring summer. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that a BORING summer is exactly what my family needed.
The last two years our family has been turned upside down. We went from having two kids, to having four. Having four children (the youngest 2 being only 17 months apart) has been extremely overwhelming for me. I can't really put into words what it is like. It's just hard to leave the house with four young children. So that alone has been stressful. But in addition to that, we started homeschooling (another very difficult task, especially since I have a baby and toddler who need lots of attention). Also, my husband and I have been serving in leadership callings in our church. And on top of my husband's already demanding career, he has added 2 other jobs to help cover our expenses. Life has just been INSANELY busy and difficult. Don't get me wrong. We've had lots of happy moments and have made a lot of fun family memories. But, it's just been a demanding couple of years. And I have really been needing a break.
And so, this summer we didn't go on any fancy vacations (Afterall, vacations with children are not vacations at all. It is so much work for a parent--more work than staying at home. I wish someone would have told me that BEFORE I had kids. haha!) I spent my days building forts, playing games, reading books, and watching movies (probably a little too many of the latter). I played with Baby C and helped her learn to crawl. Right now I am helping Miss R learn to the use the potty. I helped Miss A learn to read. I supervised Miss L cooking her first meal and watched her become engrossed in the The Chronicles of Narnia. Yes, we were bored at times. But I think a little boredom is healthy; it helps foster the imagination.
So bring on the boredom because I know in a couple of weeks when school starts again....I'm going to go nuts! :D
4 comments:
That's definitely not what I call a "boring" summer. I'm sure your kids appreciated just having time to be kids. :)
I think I would have preferred a "boring" summer (like ours last summer when I was pregnant and we couldn't go anywhere) to the crazy one we had. It was great to see family but the stress took its toll on our kids. I'm all about taking it easy during the summer.
My summer was QUITE boring. I pretty much stayed in the house every day and did nothing (seeing it wasn't even my house!). We did go swimming a TON, which was really fun. But besides that we just sat inside a house all summer watching Brooke and Rhead climb stairs and telling Carden "No" at every cupboard he got into (seeing the house wasn't baby proofed either!). I hope next summer will be boring in the idea that maybe we will finally have a REAL home (meaning that we will hopefully live there longer than a year to two years!) I am sick of living out of boxes! I hope we can get together more this year and play!!!
The last day before school started, I was brainstorming what fun place we could all go to. But, when I looked around and saw that all 3 girls were just having fun playing house together, I decided that was the best way to spend it, at home.
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