Homeschooling Resources in Aguanga, California

I look forward to summers.

As a homeschool mom, summer is the time of year where there is more stuff for my school aged kids to do. It’s that time of year when my kids can join in with all of the other kids to do kid stuff during the day.  

Imagine. I get a break during the summer time.

It’s not that I don’t love my kids or enjoy teaching them at home.  It’s simply I’ve learned that part of being healthy mentally and physically when there are health challenges in your home is making time for yourself.  If you want to read more about that I’m blogging about it over at FortheFamily.org today.

Straight talk? If I send my kids to camp, I get to be in my house a-l-o-n-e.

Because of the glut of activities, people and programs who are poised to take the money of moms and dads all over the world, I have options. Here and there I sign the kids up for an activity or two. But better yet, I scavenge for all of the free stuff that miraculously appears during the summer months that allow me to take nap here and there my kids to have a blast.

Don’t judge me just yet.  I do want to be a good mom.  Lest I end up creating over-scheduled kids, I normally strive for plenty of down time and threaten my kids with tons of housework if they dare to tell me that they are bored.

It usually works.

I’m a firm believer in reading lots of books and staring at the clouds. Riding bikes and drinking from the water hose. Rediscovering board games and playing make believe.

But somehow this summer hasn’t turned out like I thought it would.

My intentions of more lazy days with a sprinkling of breaks for mom activities for the kids, hasn’t turned out as planned.

We’ve been on the go. Track meets and family camp. Play dates and errands. Video games while Mommy gets work done.  Fast food instead of discovering new family favorite recipes. And not quite as much reading as I’d hoped for.

We haven’t even graced the threshold of a library.

I stand ashamed.

My summer siesta has been more like a summer sprint.

But I was reminded today as I watched my six year old, sucking a homemade popsicle on the back porch, that the summer is not over. It’s not too late to savor the summer and snatch a second here and there to create a memory that will last a long time.

It’s not too late to don our pajamas and stay up late listening to an audiobook.  It’s not too late to take a few more trips to the lake at sunset or to ride our bikes down the spill way.  It’s not too late to try a new recipe, invite friends over, or enjoy an afternoon making up games with rules that change by the second. It’s not too late to enjoy another sunset or to watch the moon settle into the night sky.

I planned for my summer to be more of a siesta and it’s been more of a sprint.

But it’s not too late to slow it down a tad.

It’s not too late for me to play Uno one more summer, with one more kid, with one more variation, even though I’ve been playing Uno for what seems like an eternity.

It’s been good for me to enjoy a break here and there this summer but I have to say that I’m reminded it’s just as good for me to make memories – even if it’s at a snail’s pace.

Reenacting my original idea of a slower summer siesta doesn’t mean that I quit working or that we halt all activities or that I’m making muffins every morning from scratch.

However it does mean that I desire to live with a heightened level of intentionality so that I don’t miss the moments, lose the lingering, or pass the precious people I love too fast.

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Taking a summer siesta a little slower simply means that I get to enjoy the remaining days in a different way.

A more intentional way.

A more purposeful way.

And I’m looking forward to it.

What about you?  

How has your summer been so far?  

Anything you want to do more or less of as the summer draws to a close?

This post originally appeared on Chrystal Evans Hurst and has been republished with permission.