The first of May (also known as Mayday) rose up from the calendar and slapped me across the face. Not literally of course. I’m not quite that far gone! But it did bring to my attention several things that I had been trying to avoid, put off and procrastinate into submission. First, only 7 months until Christmas! Okay, I’m kidding again. But seriously folks, that first of May date is like a glowing beacon, reminding me that the extremely tenuous life balance I’ve been operating under is about to come crashing down around me.
Once you have children, and particularly children that are school age, the month of May becomes a marathon of field trips, graduation ceremonies, teacher appreciation events (why don’t they put that event in, like, February, when nothing else is going on - I mean REALLY!), end of school parties and award ceremonies. My calendar, and yours I’m sure, looks like an unreadable scribble scrabbly mess of places I’m supposed to be, money I’m supposed to donate (don’t I pay taxes for all this crap?) and food I’m supposed to deliver in a timely manner for every manner of celebration. My husband and I compare our calendars daily to ensure that one or the other of us can be at every event and that neither of our children are ignored or embarassed by us showing up in our pajamas at a function we had forgotten until the last minute. It’s absolute madness and it is as predictable as the sun coming up each morning. Parents should remember from year to year the craziness that is May and go into training for it about the first of March. Parenting is always an endurance sport and that is never more true than during the month of May. God help us all!
And at the end of the merry month of May? Not the break that we all deserve just for surviving….oh no! SUMMER! The word that strikes fear into the hearts of all working parents. Among the parents that I spend time with, there is currently no other topic of conversation but “What are you going to do with your kids this summer?” All the good camps are full. The grandparents are as heavily scheduled as they can possibly be. And we’ve only worked out our child care plans through the 4th of July!
Many of you that work outside the home may be green with envy of those of us that work from home. But please let me assure you that the grass is not greener here either when it comes to a good case of the summertime blues. You almost have to simply acquiesce that a) you will be only half as productive (and that’s if your lucky) as during the school year and that b) your children will insist that they NEVER get to do anything, that they are bored out of their minds and that summer sucks. This will put your parent guilt into overdrive and your stress level out the roof and cause you to pray daily for school to start - SOON!
The good news? August and September will roll around again. Your kids will eventually have fond memories of your trips to the beach with your laptop and you allowing them to sleep till noon just so you can get some work done. Other than that? I am open to your suggestions. PLEASE let me know how you survive the summer with your sanity intact!
