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Dangerous Wonder
Jul. 16, 2009
Mid Summer Madness and How Graham Crackers Saved the Day
It happens every year! The kids turn into crazy people sometime after the 4th of July. You see, before the 4th, the kids are content to be outside without food, shelter or rest for days on end it seems. Their black bottomed feet a sign of gleeful shoeless fun paired with shrieks and squeals of joy echoing through the neighborhood. They are content to eat rocks and sand and drink water from the hose or birdbath, whatever is closest. The objective is play and play hard. They have no duties in sight and they are free to run wild and pretend.
The girls play things like "animal hospital" or "puppies" or the ever popular princess scenarios.
The boys act out battle scenarios they've been conjuring up all winter long. Episodes of Star Wars reenacted over and over again.
Bicycles, scooters, skateboards...anything with wheels tumbling out of the garages and rolling and zooming up and down the cul-de-sac. The activity is so intense you can't imagine it'll ever stop!
You start thinking, "I will never be able to get my child to want to do chores, eat dinner or do schoolwork again!" And then WHAMO! Right in the middle of this amazing thing called summer the madness begins.
They start to say things like, "I'm bored, what should I do?" every 5 minutes
You retort with, "Go outside and play!"
They answer back, "There's nothing to do outside."
You stand there for a moment amazed at this answer because you just watched them pretend, explore and run around non-stop for weeks on end outside! Really!? Nothing? You sigh in frustration and begin to wrack that super Mommy drive for fun things to do.
It starts ticking down the list:
ride your bike
swing on a swing
play tag
run through the sprinkler
help Mommy do laundry
pretend you're secret agents
cops and robbers
hopscotch
jump rope
....
They stand there looking at you as if you're speaking a foreign language. The hauntingly blank stare greets you with the next phrase all mothers dread, "I don't want to do that, what should I do?"
So the madness continues...
At this point, I am more than ready to start school up again to unearth my highly intelligent, creative children that are lost somewhere behind the mind numbed child standing before me. I think a lot of it has to do with the lack of structure summer brings. I believe it's also connected with the lack of sleep they are operating with. They are tired and needing direction! Perhaps something organized...this is when super Mommy steps in and starts doing "cool mom" things.
You bring out yummy snacks and water mid afternoon not just for your angels, but the whole neighborhood! Then you organize events and games for the kids to participate in to reboot their minds. Ding! Round 1 and you start to see some progress. The kids start talking to each other and coming up with fun solutions after they finish their snack. Who knew a little graham cracker with peanut butter and chocolate chips could be so amazing!?
I don't know why I don't plan for these things better each year. I think it's because I'm on vacation too. My creative brain I've been utilizing all school year needs to reboot for the next. I always feel like I need post-it notes on my mind this time of year to remind me what's next and what my responsibilities are. Somedays I am walking around in a fog of "what's next?" Structure is good. Breaks are good, but I think my mind stays on the ball far better when we have structure throughout the day. These are things I need to think about for next year. How can we have a super fun summer without the madness!? A little structure might go a long way! A little structure like afternoon snack time...
I better go make some cookies and get ready for tomorrows afternoon of "what should I do?"
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