Thursday, August 28, 2014

A Farewell to Summer


Summer is coming to an end. It’s getting darker earlier. The air has changed. The “end of summer” bugs are out. It’s an obvious shift.  My kid go back to school next week and while part of me is jumping for joy inside and out the other part of me is desperately trying to hold onto these last days of summer with them.

I’ve spent a little over two months with my kids at this point. To be clear I have spent 7 days a week, 24 hours a day (minus the 8 hours they sleep if I’m lucky) and countless minutes and seconds with my sweet, adorable (sense my sarcasm) boys this summer. The other day I couldn’t help but think to myself “Okay toughen up pansy. You only have two weeks left. YOU CAN DO THIS!” If I’m being honest, which I am, my kids are pretty awesome but they are also pretty annoying. Between all the bickering amongst each other and the constant whining and begging for snacks a mom can only stay calm and normal for so long. That being said summer with kids is like that guy you loved to hate.  You know it’s not going to be easy but you love it just the same.

Now that the end is near I am having mixed emotions about it actually ending.  It dawned on me the other day as I repeated myself for the 5th time that it was time for us to leave the beach, that this is the last summer they will be this age. I know every summer is the last summer my kids will be “this age” but it really hit me this time. Next summer I will no longer have a six year old who starts the summer off just ending kindergarten and ends the summer confident and ready to enter into the first grade. Next summer I will no longer have a three year old who just ended his first year in preschool and is eager to begin his second year in the “big classroom”.  I will have two boys a year older, a year wiser and a whole year changed from who they are this year.  It hit me that summer is like childhood, ever fleeting.  This has been a great summer. A summer filled with memories with family and friends. It’s been a summer filled with beginnings and endings and I think it’s only appropriate to say farewell.

A Farewell to summer,

It’s so hard to say goodbye to a season I love so much. It’s hard to say goodbye to the smell of barbeque grills from near and far. It’s hard to explain how much I will miss the sounds of kids riding bikes, catching fireflies, making S’mores and running through the neighborhood yards. I will miss the lack of a schedule. I will miss sitting down with my kids for a relaxed breakfast that consisted of them throwing food, me telling them to stop and all of us somehow laughing despite the chaos. I will miss the days we spend down at our lake. I will miss the 5,006 times they asked me for a snack and the 4,998 times I actually said no.

I will miss the times they were able to spend with their cousins swimming and laughing because I know how much I loved that time as a kid.
 

I will miss not having to worry about bedtime but instead allowing them to catch just one more fish, or make just one more S’more, or catch just one more firefly.


I will miss it all. So I say goodbye to one of my favorite seasons. I say goodbye to summer. Next year I will once again greet you with open arms. I will have two boys who are a year older than they are now and I know we will make great memories like we did this year. I’m never ready to let you go but I am always ready to see what you have in store for me next year.

I’m not dumb enough to think that all ideas of joy should be based on summer but I am smart enough to know that every idea of summer should be based on joy.

 


14 comments:

  1. A beautiful post! I feel it, too. My kids have been back at school for a month but for some reason I am just now feeling the loss of the summer months. Perhaps because it was so chaotic getting back into the schedule the first few weeks I didn't have time to notice. Or maybe because we are leaving today for the holiday weekend, the "official" end of summer and the last free weekend without fall sports for three months. I don't know what it is but I feel it, I really do. I am so happy you had a wonderful summer!

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    1. Thanks Sandy. The first month of school really is so chaotic. Enjoy your last official weekend of summer. Here's looking forward to next year.

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  2. I hear you. It just occurred to me yesterday (my son's second day of kindergarten) that my whole LIFE has basically been summer at this point. And now it's over. Gone are the days where I don't bother getting out of my pajamas, the impromptu trips to the kids' farm, the hanging out in the yard... I need to stop now. ::sniff::

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    1. That shift is so hard. I dread the day my youngest goes off to school full day. Hold onto those memories of pajama days, the kids farm and chilling in the yard. They are the best days!

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  3. We both said that this was the best summer we can remember in a long time (until the end of it) and felt so much of what you wrote here. Beautiful.-The Dose Girls

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    1. Thank you ladies! It really was a great summer. I guess all good things come to an end.

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  4. I always get a little panicky at the end of summer, worried that I didn't cram enough in, but the years my kids start kindergarten are the biggest transitions. Thankfully fall is a fun season, too, so we've adjusted well. This post makes me want to sneak one more trip to the beach!

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    1. I predict that when my youngest heads off to Kindergarten I will be a big old mess crying in my coffee (for the first couple of days anyway.) ;)

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  5. I always feel sad when summer is going to end, but it is sweet sadness when you remember all the pleasant moments that happened to you.

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  6. I often get nervous at the end of summer, anxious that I haven't packed enough in, yet the years my children start school are the most significant adjustments. Fortunately, fall is also a wonderful season, so we've adjusted nicely. This post makes me want to go to the beach one more time!

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