Stories From A Life Gone Crazy: Summer time madness

The children are enjoying the freedom we have given them this summer. We open the door and let them play outside without a parent just sitting there watching. As a child this happened to me all the time, but it seems that doesn't happen as often as it used to. I feel for my kids, they don't the luxury of awesome neighbors like I did, they only have each other. They take a bowl of water to refill water guns, they take bikes, scooters, and whatever else they can find and out they go. They still come inside far more than I would like(mostly because they like to leave the door wide open!!!) They don't go far-- they really can't because living in an apartment complex sort of limits your exploring boundaries, but still it is a small taste of freedom.

Now this new freedom comes with the need to work together, figure things out, and stop asking mom and dad to be referee. They come inside whining and crying about not sharing, not taking turns, some one was pushed, another was tripped, and so it goes. We now say-- go back outside and you guys figure it out. They were uncertain at first, but they relish their outdoor time so they quickly learned to work it out or at least make an attempt. There has been one incident that did involve a parent stepping in. Luke found a rather large rock, it was bigger than my palm, and he threw it at Thomas' head. He got him smack on the forehead. Immediately Luke ran off and hid behind a tree. Jack stepped up and took on the role of caretaker. He got Thomas a pillow to rest on, some water, he sat next to him and read him a book, and told him he was sorry that he had such a bad owie. After getting the ice there was nothing for me to do.

I am the strict one you see- the one that says rules are rules and they must be followed. My job is to be the one that is not fun at all. I enforce all the little and big rules. Bedtime falls into this area. I am very strict on bedtime. The summer is no excuse to be lax because when it is time for school to start things will be hell, and if bedtime is not adhered to then the summer days will be hell because of the overwhelming crankiness. However, I have worked very hard on being a little more flexible. I also surprised them all when after Tae Kwon Do one night instead of saying it was time to start getting ready for bed I said-- who wants to go to the pool? Our complex has a pool so I took the boys to the pool. Just me. I let them jump to me, I talked about random stuff, and for once I felt like the cool parent.

I have spent the summer reading. So far I have read three books. Right now I am reading Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore. I really like it. Of the three it is my favorite. I go through stages. Sometimes I binge read, sometimes I binge on TV, and other times I spend my evenings doing crossword puzzles. I hadn't read since before I was pregnant with Meg( minus one book), so it was about time. It was the longest I had gone without reading. I was just having a hard time finding something to start. Now I am on a roll.

Picture time: