Summer Break is Here (Or: 79 More Days Until School Starts)

Yesterday marked the first day of summer vacation for our family. Here are a few things I heard, saw, and did to commemorate the day:

- Brought our car in for repair (after having been hit by our new neighbor), and drove home in a mini-van. A mini-van! I felt like a bus driver.

- Dealt with a relapse of Grace's sickness, after a surprising fever-spike on Sunday. Dispensed Tylenol, delivered juice, and handed out Sanity Pills as an antidote to the cranky-whiny sounds wafting through my house.

- Brought Grace to the doctor after repeated cries of, "Mommy, my ear hurts!"

- Discovered that Grace is not sick, but only teething. Teething?! Was consoled by the doctor, not to worry, you're not the only one, parents get "fooled" all the time ... OK. But never in all these years has something like this happened. My kids' mouths filled up with teeth all on their own, without any symptoms ... until now, it seems.

And then here's what I heard from Aidan all ... day ... long ...

- "Mommy, I'm bored."
- "I don't know what to do."
- "I don't want to play with my cars" (after I suggested he do so).
- "I don't want to play with Lincoln Logs" (after I suggested he do so).
- "I don't want to play outside" (after I suggested he do so).
- "I don't want to work in my activity book" (after I .. yeah, you get the idea).
- "Can I play on the computer?" (no.)
- "Can I watch TV?" (oh, no.)
- "Is it computer time yet?"
- "How about now? Can I play on the computer?"
- "I'm tired."
- "I'm hungry."
- "I don't know what to do." (Oh, yeah, I wrote that one already).

That was yesterday, for two straight hours.
It was a long, long, long day.

Today I looked at the calendar, and started counting the days, one by one.

It's a shame, really. I was heartily embracing the idea of "living in the moment," of embracing these carefree summer days, of recalling my own joyful childhood during these months. So much for that. Already I'm hitting the calendar.

79 more days ...