Summer Sensations
Does it feel like summer is going too fast to you?
Maybe not. Maybe you feel like you've just gotten started. But here in the wilds of the outskirts of Phoenix, where we go to school on a "modified year round" schedule, it feels like we are starting to run out of time. We only have two full weeks of summer break left.
Yikes! I'm not rested enough yet. I don't feel like I'm ready to tackle another year of homework, driving, and endless projects. My bank account definitely isn't ready for the back to school onslaught. (Back in the day, my mom used to take us shopping for new school clothes every year. It was like a grand shopping spree! I cannot afford to do that for my kids. It take every penny I can scrimp throughout the year just to pay for their back-to-school classroom supplies.)
Well, there is still the endless weather of summer to look forward to. We've barely gotten started on that. Come October, it will still be hitting 100 degrees, so no need to fret about our swim weather being almost over. I'll still get the kids in the pool at least once a week, even when they go back to school. It's a necessity around here. Back when we first moved to the valley, I dutifully enrolled my older kids in swim lessons. It's kind of pounded into your heads-- at least here. There are pools every twenty feet, you see, and one of the only ways to help keep your kids safe is to make sure they learn how to swim as young as possible. But I found that even though I was stretching my budget to make sure they got these "necessary" swim lessons, it didn't seem to really make a difference. What helped my kids learn how to swim was simply mass quantities of time in the pool without a flotation device of any kind. So with the older three they got a summer of lessons, and then with just plenty of time in the pool they are all pretty competent at keeping their heads above water.
After K was a nightmare through his very first month of swim lessons, I gave up with him altogether, just depending on pool time to get us through. This summer will be the one I think. He's already swimming in the deep end, as long as he doesn't get too far from the wall. S seems to be my youngest fish yet. She will push off me, swim out about five feet and then turn around and come back. Plus she's absolutely fearless about throwing herself into the pool, in any depth of water, as long as there is someone with about ten feet of her (that one's kind of scary, since B is in no way able to "catch" S in the deep end of the pool!) Anyway, it will be a relief to have a full family of swimmers. Not that I don't have to keep on my toes as lifeguard when they're in the pool. I've learned that older kids in the pool are sometimes scarier than younger ones. They practically drown each other horsing around.
The other summer excitement in our lives around here besides swimming is the monsoon. The Arizona monsoon season is in full swing. Today's thunderstorm and rain shower showed up early-- it was rolling in just as we were leaving church. (Usually they wait until late afternoon.) The humidity sucks, but as I stood outside today and let the gusting wind tangle my hair and listened to the thunder crash and enjoyed the first few cool raindrops, I realized how lucky I am. I love thunderstorms, and I rarely got to experience them growing up. Now they are a regular part of my life every summer. It's great!
We have a mini family vacation coming up (minus Terence) and a trip to the water park, so there is still some fun to be had before we must gird up our loins and wade back into the madness of public education. I'm trying to savor every moment. Hopefully you are having an interesting summer also!
Maybe not. Maybe you feel like you've just gotten started. But here in the wilds of the outskirts of Phoenix, where we go to school on a "modified year round" schedule, it feels like we are starting to run out of time. We only have two full weeks of summer break left.
Yikes! I'm not rested enough yet. I don't feel like I'm ready to tackle another year of homework, driving, and endless projects. My bank account definitely isn't ready for the back to school onslaught. (Back in the day, my mom used to take us shopping for new school clothes every year. It was like a grand shopping spree! I cannot afford to do that for my kids. It take every penny I can scrimp throughout the year just to pay for their back-to-school classroom supplies.)
Well, there is still the endless weather of summer to look forward to. We've barely gotten started on that. Come October, it will still be hitting 100 degrees, so no need to fret about our swim weather being almost over. I'll still get the kids in the pool at least once a week, even when they go back to school. It's a necessity around here. Back when we first moved to the valley, I dutifully enrolled my older kids in swim lessons. It's kind of pounded into your heads-- at least here. There are pools every twenty feet, you see, and one of the only ways to help keep your kids safe is to make sure they learn how to swim as young as possible. But I found that even though I was stretching my budget to make sure they got these "necessary" swim lessons, it didn't seem to really make a difference. What helped my kids learn how to swim was simply mass quantities of time in the pool without a flotation device of any kind. So with the older three they got a summer of lessons, and then with just plenty of time in the pool they are all pretty competent at keeping their heads above water.
After K was a nightmare through his very first month of swim lessons, I gave up with him altogether, just depending on pool time to get us through. This summer will be the one I think. He's already swimming in the deep end, as long as he doesn't get too far from the wall. S seems to be my youngest fish yet. She will push off me, swim out about five feet and then turn around and come back. Plus she's absolutely fearless about throwing herself into the pool, in any depth of water, as long as there is someone with about ten feet of her (that one's kind of scary, since B is in no way able to "catch" S in the deep end of the pool!) Anyway, it will be a relief to have a full family of swimmers. Not that I don't have to keep on my toes as lifeguard when they're in the pool. I've learned that older kids in the pool are sometimes scarier than younger ones. They practically drown each other horsing around.
The other summer excitement in our lives around here besides swimming is the monsoon. The Arizona monsoon season is in full swing. Today's thunderstorm and rain shower showed up early-- it was rolling in just as we were leaving church. (Usually they wait until late afternoon.) The humidity sucks, but as I stood outside today and let the gusting wind tangle my hair and listened to the thunder crash and enjoyed the first few cool raindrops, I realized how lucky I am. I love thunderstorms, and I rarely got to experience them growing up. Now they are a regular part of my life every summer. It's great!
We have a mini family vacation coming up (minus Terence) and a trip to the water park, so there is still some fun to be had before we must gird up our loins and wade back into the madness of public education. I'm trying to savor every moment. Hopefully you are having an interesting summer also!
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