Change Of Scenery

See the new pic up top?  Yeah, decided that the old one of the waves had to go and finally got around to dealing with it.  In case you were wondering, views like that are one of the main reasons why I geocache.  Anyway...

Just realized that my husband will be out of town more this summer than he's in town.  Work stuff, not even remotely his fault.  Still...gonna be a long couple of months.  Seems like that whole approaching-the-onset-of-puberty hormone thing has been a struggle at more houses than mine, judging from the stories I'm hearing from other sixth grade (excuse me, rising SEVENTH grade) parents...must just be the age.  For a legitimately good kid, he seems bound and determined to send me round the bend.  I tend to get a bit testy when my youngest acts older than her two big brothers put together!  Third, fourth and seventh grades next year...wow.  Time, it flies.

So, the goal for the summer...keep them all busy.  Very busy.  Books and camps and soccer and swimming and playdates and trips (they'll be out of town most of August.)  Isn't there a quotation about idle hands being the devil's playground or something?  (NB: just looked it up [of course I did] and it's "workshop," not "playground."  Whatever, close enough.)  It's a fine line...I do want them to have downtime, but left to their own devices two of the three kids would play video games for the entire freaking summer, and that is just not going to happen.

There are a couple of neighborhoods in our general vicinity where the parents can actually let the kids play outside.  Unsupervised, even.  They run from house to house and the parents keep in touch via text.  Sounds great, but sadly we live on a very busy main road and the only way for any of the three of them to safely get to a friend's house is via car...no free-range parenting here, unfortunately.  About the closest I'm going to get to that is dropping Thing One (and his cell phone, for contact and emergencies) off at the town park when he wants to hang out with his friends.  

Sounds like it was a lot easier to be a summer parent in the 1970s.  Really.