My little S (4) and J (almost 3) will be ending their preschool academic year next week. Sure my heart is filled with thoughts of how they’re growing up so quickly and how S is definitely transitioning into a little girl and J is sprouting into a full-fledged preschooler. The babies and toddlers have left my roost!
While those thoughts race around my head most are devoted to summer. Can’t wait for it to start! Dread for it to start! We’ll have so much to do and so much fun! What are we going to do? Please behave!! Why did I think it was a good idea to only do one week of school camp?
It’s the weekend before that momentous Last Day of School Thursday, June 11th and my hubby is on a guy’s trip hiking the tallest peak in NY State, leaving me with the two kids. This weekend alone has given me a taste of the summer to come and already showed me glimpses of what our 12 weeks off will look like.
Summer is great for not wasting the precious 2.5 hours of school time on working out and showering; naturally it’s the best time to go so pretty much every school day I end up only working out and not much else gets accomplished. Instead I will be taking the munchkins along to that “fine” gym daycare, dropping them off, sweating like a professional athlete while trying to do my best imitation of the good looking class instructor, picking up the kids who are dazed from an hour of Dora reruns, and strutting out the door thinking “we should do this again!” Gym daycares are way underrated. Who can resist unlimited childcare for just $9.95 a month! Isn’t summer about a little extra downtime for kids?
Of course we have to rebuild those brain cells after that extra hour of TV at the gym and we are off to do something brainy. Today we went to the Liberty Science Center in Jersey City. The kids ran around building block towers, playing with puzzles, climbing walls, looking at all kinds of exotic animals and much more. Check off two more hours and guarantee some quiet time / nap time when you get home.
Throw in some park time, pool time – hey, we only have a plastic fill up kiddie pool, but whatever you have work with it. You’re members at a country club – awesome! You aren’t – get a garden hose…also awesome! Eat a hot dog. Have a bag of chips. Throw in some Kool Aid for some retro kicks. Yes, let’s go to a farm! Berry picking anyone?
Uh-oh, all of this excitement and activity has landed me in dire need for caffeine to chug along. Oh, no…here it comes…the bad behavior. “Please keep your hands to yourself,” “both halves are the same,” “you can take turns sitting on my lap,” “I’m going to start counting…”
This weekend has been a summer preview bootcamp style! We will have lots of fun things to do over at “Camp Amore.” There are going to be happy, crazy, cranky, and silly moments. It’s going to be a mixed bag. Biggest accomplishment of my pre-summer kiddie bootcamp is that I’ve discovered my top two priorities: the gym daycare and the kids in the plastic pool in our backyard while I’m under the umbrella with a glass of rosé. You’re only supposed to drink rosé in the sun after all. Swirl, sip, sigh.
The image “Close-up of a little girl’s legs in little red pool” from travnikovstudio is available on Fotolia under a royalty-free license
