The boring routine of summer vacation was paradise

The second week of school is starting at the time of this writing and it is getting into cold Fall weather.  Good time to write a post about the middle of summer.  Obviously.

I got so behind on my writing because I never seem to get to my blog in the summer.  Frankly I just don't want to write the blog in the summer.  I am having too much tired fun being with the kids all day and then sitting with my Mom watching news or talking after the kids go to bed, and of course they go to bed later.   Summer is important for doing THESE things.  It more than often got to be mid night before the day was done, and then I wanted to read a big long book too.  So.... blog gets behind.

However, to put me and the blog back on track..... here goes....

I notice two trends from my vacation that I would like to go into in this post.  First though, I am talking about the second half of the summer, August.  We got to our usual summer house abode at my Mother`s end of July this year.

Swim in the lake

1.  Continuing on the theme of the last post, I really think a routine, even a very boring routine, is the way life should be; is better for us all and even very nice and pleasant.  In my summer house place I don't need to go anywhere.  Its all right there, swimming, biking, playing, walking in the woods if someone wants..  So here is the routine, brace yourselves for some brutal boringness.

Riding bikes

building sandcastles

Three or four games a day

The kids would get up around 8.30 am and watch an hour of GOOD cartoons.  Well, Curious George is OK.  PBS Television generally.  At one point my older daughter asked if they could watch the Disney channel and I strictly forbade that one.  No way,  Disney, even if you offered me a stipend for my blog, I could not recommend your morning cartoons for kids.   Sorry Roy.  Then we do some bike riding, or this or that around the house.  Many times we would go out in the mid to late morning to go food shopping, or go do the laundry and I took the kids to the splash park down the street from the laundry place. I wrote about the wonderful splash park in the very small village of Kingsley, Michigan some years ago and I have to repeat how wonderful it is that a small little village can do something very big and nice for kids.  Respect.  Or in the later weeks I was playing a new game with the girls which I taught them (Clue) and they went gaga over it and we played it all morning.  Or some mornings we would play other paper games my Mom invented with words and numbers.

Somehow, it was after 1pm when we ate lunch outside on the deck and finished at 2.30.  Then if we weren't out at some park in the afternoon, we might take our first swim at 2.30. In fact I am not sure what we did at this time, it must have been very routine and boring.  Somehow we get to 3.30 at which time they watched very good cartoons again, the Kratt brothers in the Wild Kratts. I strongly recommend this wonderful cartoon show of the Kratt brothers exploring every habitat and all animals great and small and giving them all respect.  (disclosure, no advertisement money paid)

Then we would swim from 5.30pm till 7 or there abouts.  And then it was supper outside after that.  And then it is 8 or even later and sometimes we had time for a row or some bike riding around the circle, but in the later weeks it was getting dark already and we would have to go inside.  But friends from down the way would often come over in the night with their dog for a short visit and the girls would fight over who got to sit next to the dog.  I would do some language training EVERY EVENING (try to get YOUR kids to study every day during summer) with my older girl, and Grandma would read to my younger girl.  We would be in bed with lights out by 10 or 10.30 pm after I read them a story, which is late and I don't recommend for little kids, but you know, summer.  They could sleep as long as they wanted in the morning.

And that's about it.  A day boiled down to three paragraphs.  Oh sure, we had special events during the week, going to a fast food restaurant (I don't want to say which one, I am not getting paid) which had a nice playground inside, and going to the big beach downtown, to the park.

East Bay swimming

 To other parks too, nearby.  There was usually something "special" every day, from food shopping (my kids loved to go to the supermarket, I have to say.  It was special to them to shop with Grandma) to the beach, to the eclipse if you recall that event, but for the most part, our days were as I wrote above.

The routine was boring right?  No, no no. On the contrary, it was paradise.  I wrote every day down in a journal and when I am 80 years old, I will say and I will know that those summer days were paradise and I am and will be thankful and grateful for them for ever.  For ever.

2.  The second thing that I have to mention about the summer, is it was quite enjoyable being both a Father and a son at the same time.  My Mother was taking care of things she always took care of since I was small, like the laundry,  cooking and preparing lunch and dinner and doing the shopping, I was being a responsible Father and spending nearly every minute of the waking day with my kids.  Two hours free time when they were watching TV.  Besides that I was in control and in charge of the agenda, or okayed what they wanted to do.  And then I was always there, from riding bikes and swimming with them to eating and going to the parks with them and then playing games and reading in the night.

One of the points of this that formulates in my mind, is that parenting is a two parent job.  One person has to be taking care of the structural foundational elements of the day, cooking, cleaning, keeping things in order.  The other parent has to be taking part / care of the kids and being hands down in the dirt along side them.  I have said it before and I say it again now,  I don't see how a single parent can play both roles necessary, and they are both necessary.  Or else, they are very very busy. Or else they also have grandma, or sister or someone to help them.  One parent households.... well, they lose out, and this is very sad for me, because two pillars are needed to hold up the household and if you just have one pillar holding everything up, the household just is not so strong.  Not strong at all. And everyone suffers.

Please folks, for the better all around health of your kids AND you,  .... two parents is really the best. Lets stop fighting and start compromising and ironing our differences out and stay together and emphasize our commonalities of being together as parents.

The other point is, is that it is really great being a kid again.  Relax, open up and be care free and re live childhood by being with your kids, especially in the summer.

I love summer.  I am one lucky guy folks.  Despite all the problems, I am very lucky.  Why don't you look at your life too and see how lucky you are and how much you have.  Don't look at the things you don't have, look at what you`ve got.

Thanks for enduring my routine, banal, boring, soapboxing post.