This time of year, the Internet is full of summer “bucket lists”–things to do before the season of sandals and swimming ends. Most of these lists are related to kids’ boredom-busters and traditional summertime fun, like BBQs and pool parties.
But, what about the moms?
The start of summer holds special spots in mom’s hearts: First, rejoicing in not having to have the morning nagging routine:
“Get up. NOW!”
You see your sweet sleeping angel resting peacefully and your heart flutters a bit and you just want time to stop. Then, you realize: time “It’s time to get up,” you you sweetly whisper, “time to wake up sweetie-pie.” A groan comes out with a smell of dirty socks and old fish. “Come on, honey we don’t want to be late,” you urge your smelly angel. “Arghhh mom, just go away! I’m tiiiiirrred.” Then, it hits you: you have to get gas and your kid will get a detention if they are tardy one more time, and the last thing you want to do is have to drive in 5 o’clock traffic to get your kid from detention on a Friday, so the nag beast surfaces with a growling, “Get up. NOW!”
“That is not part of your dress code!”
Somehow, the appropriate clothing doesn’t fit/is dirty/doesn’t match/ is out of style. It’s fine for weekends, but on schooldays, the boundaries seem to always get pushed. And hygiene? How come a middle school-er smells the same at the end of the day and the beginning of the next? When you know there was a 20-minute shower in between….
“Make sure you have toothpaste on your brush!”
You ask the kids to brush their teeth, and they leave the blob of unused toothpaste in the sink, and you wonder if that was supposed to go into their mouth or if it was just “extra,” like they claim.
“Why didn’t you tell me about this two weeks ago?”
Then, there is the morning announcements. The ones that the kids heard two weeks prior, but somehow don’t surface again until the day of:
“By the way, we need to bring cupcakes for the party today.”
“Mom, do you have my field trip money?”
“I need a display board for my project today.”
So, without further ado, here’s Mom’s summer bucket list:
• Let the kids sleep in so that you can have your coffee: and it’s hot.
• Use the money saved on lunch items for new shoes one day next Tuesday
• Hold an “at-home scavenger hunt” by having the kids find 12 things that don’t belong in assorted rooms. (You will get the house picked up this way, too.)
• Have a craft day where you use up all of the craft stash you’ve stored up before it becomes “craft trash.”
• Set up a treasure hunt in the backyard. (The dog has already pre-dug a hole for that.)
• Try holding a science experiment and see if it’s hot enough to fry an egg on the pavement. (Supplies: tin foil, cooking spray and an egg.)
• Have the kids make homemade cards–as many as you want for whatever holiday/ailment you can think of. These will come in handy all year.
• Hold a Christmas-in-July craft day. Get those homemade ornaments made for the grandparents way ahead of time!
• Plan assorted “activities” so you can squeeze in exercise time. Paddle boating at the lake and bike rides will help burn off those extra s’mores.
Of course, this isn’t a must do list but even if the only task completed is being able to start your day drinking coffee while it’s hot, it’s a good day indeed.
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