First-Month-of-Summer Blues

One of my favorite things about my job is that I get the Summers off to spend with the kids. The first three weeks are so much fun! We go exploring in the hills by our house. We find all the local parks and visit them one by one. We get all of the bikes fixed and functioning to last us for another year. Yep, those first three weeks are amazing.

Slowly, without anyone expecting it, the monotony starts to sink in. The kids are sick of what the outside world has to offer. They want to play the computer, or watch videos. They are starting to say those two most dreaded words in the English language... "I'm bored!"

With boredom, comes fighting. The whiney voices start going, the teasing and altogether obnoxiousness that having five kids in one house for three weeks straight causes. It can't seem to be avoided! (Did I mention I don't have a vehicle this Summer, so I can't really escape like I used to be able to?) To add to this, I have school work that I am behind on, so every little shriek, whether good or bad just grates on me like nails on a chalkboard! How can I think with all this chaos going on around me?

I do what any mother on the brink of insanity would do.... I borrow a car and load the kids up for a trip to the dollar store! Oh wonderful, amazing dollar store! With all your cheep paper and crayons and coloring books. Your little craft kits and dinky toys. Your puzzles and notebooks, bubbles and jump ropes, playdough and cookie cutters! I can spend $20 dollars and come away with a menagerie of things for the kids to do with their time. Did I mention all the candy a child could ask for that even their little piggy banks could afford?

When we finally come back home, the house is silent. AHHHHHHH, I take a sigh of relief and get back to work on my latest research paper. The children are all behaving like angels at the kitchen table with their little projects and other various things from the dollar store. So what is the cure to the-first-month-into-Summer blues? The beautiful, blessed dollar store in all of it's cheep, dinky gloriousness!!!!!

Out of school/In school!

Having the kids out of school for the Summer is one of my favorite things in the world. There are so many things that we love to do together. The problem I am having this Summer is that I am in school. My school isn't your average go-to-class-and-do-your-homework-deal. I am doing a blended format of schooling. This means I do most of my classes online.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy being in school too, but I get so caught up in my everyday life, I forget to do school. Suddenly, it is Sunday and everything (that I had all week to do) needs to be done and turned in by midnight! Monday morning, I'm promising myself that I am going to get my work done early this week.

I start off with good intentions. I wake up super early while the kids are still asleep. I start my reading Monday morning, everything is going great until I hear, "Mom, What's for breakfast?" One of the kids heard my breathing or something (I swear they just sense when I'm awake) and woke up to see what I'm doing. Since spending one on one time with each of the kids is really important to me, I stop what I'm doing and find out what is going on in this child's life.

The day goes on with one adventure or another, the next thing I know, it is the weekend. The only time in the world I get to spend with Tim. I can't waste my weekends on school! We spend the weekend doing family things and just enjoying each other's company. As Sunday comes to an end, I think, "OH NO!!! I have a report that is due at midnight!!!" and the cycle starts over again.

I think my kids need to start telling me every night to get my homework done. That is what I would do to them when they were in school. What if I can just get some motivation for getting my homework done, maybe if I offered my self a reward when my paper gets written? How about setting the alarm for a certain time that would be best to do the work? Those would all be great ideas, if I would ever stick to them!

I don't know, maybe it is just to hard to be in school when my kids are out of school. What do you think?