Camp Mom

And so Summer vacation begins. When I was a kid, there was nothing better than waking up on that first day of summer vacation. No more school. The days and weeks of summer stretched out luxuriously in front of you.

Now it's my least favorite week of the year. Summer still stretches out, but it doesn't feel luxurious anymore. The only time I have to myself is the time Maggie spends in school. Now I have to be on 24 hours a day. Maggie and I have fun together but it is exhausting to think about all the lifting and physical requirements ahead. It's never as bad as I imagine because we will find a rhythm, but the anticipation is less than delightful. We have 10 days until summer school begins and then a month after it ends.

In addition to the physical demands on me, summertime is hard on Maggie. School is Maggie's social and recreational center as well as her academic center. It's fine that everyone needs a break from the academic rigors of school, but there are zero social or recreational opportunities for Maggie when school is out.  That means old mom becomes social director and camp counselor for a few weeks.

On the plus side, though, Maggie is about the easiest person in the world to entertain. Yesterday we went looking for a new mattress. Every time Steve or I laid down on a mattress to try it out (which was frequent) Maggie laughed so hard she would have trouble breathing. The poor salesman didn't know how to react. We would laugh and jump up and suction her. That made her laugh too. 

So we will begin our summer today. We will go somewhere every morning. Might be the park, or the museum or shopping. It doesn't matter because Maggie will love it. If I get too worn out we can go back to the mattress store and lie down. That will keep her entertained and I can rest. 

If anyone has ideas for outings that we can do in a couple of hours, feel free to share.