I love, love, love spring! The weather is changing and becoming more predictable, and daylight savings means longer playtime outside.
I look forward to the break the kids and I get from the routine of the “school morning rush.”
I love the uninterrupted time with the kids. The pool, the beach, staying up late and cooking out. It’s the appetizer to summer!
The only downside is that it is a reminder of summer ...
By Friday I will remember how hard it is to have all four kids home seven days in a row. I’ll remember what a task it is to manage and entertain all of the different age ranges. And I’ll remember all the fights I will have to break up and separating of the kids I will have to do.
I’ll remember all the drive thru requests and please, please order pizza, mom! The endless snack requests and half-eaten things on the kitchen counter.
I’ll remember all the sand, wet towels and sunscreen I will need to keep up with. The never, ever being alone during the day, not even in the bathroom.
I’ll remember the sandy showers and endless wet swimsuits on the floor. Oh my!
But, I do love sun-kissed faces and windswept hair on my kids. And all the sandcastles I MUST photograph since it’s the best one ever.
The first wave ridden all the way in and hearing them laugh all the way into the shore. Watching them make friends at the beach and the pool, coming as strangers but leaving as friends.
Being outside together enjoying time uninterrupted by clocks, cell phones, deadlines or e-mail. Letting the day take us where it wants to go without planning or over planning. Just enjoying the company of one another and letting that be enough.
Eating messy Popsicles poolside and having to race the sun to eat it before it melts down our faces.
My favorite, favorite thing is checking on them before I head to bed and seeing them sound asleep from having a full day of pure fun and memory-making. That’s what I live for!