Fare thee well, Summer

The other day, I was out buying the last of the school items with the kids -- new pencil cases.
(But... don't the older two still have theirs from last year?
Why yes..., somewhere. Ahem.)

The cashier looked at me with gaggle of kiddos and said, "Well, you must be excited for their first day of school!" Because none of them would ever take in from that statement that I resent their presence, that we expect mothers to find being in their kids' company a chore.

Oh no, they're all too obtuse to clue into subtexts.

{Note: dripping irony. They're pretty intelligent children, and we have even had discussions on people's weird comments about them afterwards. Mostly it's been my attempt to thwart the damage stranger's rude observations may make.}

Here's the thing: normally I probably would have wanted to say "yes!"

I certainly was a bit burn out by summer last year. Me alone with four kids, including a very new newborn... ?!

September came and I was singing me some Handel's Messiah of the Hallelujah chorus variety.

(No offence, boys. I love you immensely. I was simply tired. Having babies does that to a woman. I do hope you read this before you ever decide to marry and have kids, to give you a taste of what your future wives' limitations may be. Also, future daughters-in-law, if you're out there, hi. I hope we can get along even though I'm a bit of a complainer and probably won't like your pot of stew as much as my own.)

But this year?

When the cashier asked me this, I was delighted to say quite honestly, "well I know the structure and routine of the school year will be good for them, but we've had such a wonderful summer that I'll be a bit sad to see it end."

And I meant it!




Thinking back to our days at my in-law's cottage, kayaking in the day, roasting marshmallows at night, getting poured on at the Middle Musquodoboit Exhibition but the kids still cheering wildly about getting to go on rides, we were so happy. 




Seeing my friends who I missed very much, what a treasure. 

Days spent with my mom and Dad, going as a group to the Shubenacadie Wildlife Park, a wild water-fight between my Dad, my children and the children on his block, it was so memorable.

To think of it all, I just smile.

Until next summer, my beloved Maritimes:


We will carry these memories happily in our hearts.

Comments

  1. ElenaSeptember 4, 2017 at 3:38 PM

    I'm finding it hard to see summer go. Partly because the weather wasn't very summery and I don't feel like I've stockpiled enough sunshine to make it through winter. But, I also really find it sad to head back to the rhythm of the school year and the loss of the carefreeness of summer. I really do find it a magical time. It's actually quite similar to how I miss those days with the four oldest being just the four kids and all quite young. It all went by too fast, much too fast.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jenna CraineSeptember 4, 2017 at 5:37 PM

      It seems everything is going fast and faster for us, so I can imagine how more pronounced that would feel for a family who's children are older.

      Delete
    2. Jenna CraineSeptember 4, 2017 at 5:58 PM

      As always, thanks for this reminder to enjoy them while they are little!

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

7 QT: Homeschooling with a sick baby & fangirl Pinterest moments

Image
~1~ I'm rather behind the eight ball on the first day of school blog post, seeing as though we've been at it for over a week, but oh my, what a week it was. On the night of Labour Day, my husband and I stayed up much later than we normally do getting our little homeschool nook in order. I wanted very much to have it look appealing to the boys because this is our first year formally homeschooling and I want to have them excited about it all. Anyway, we managed to create this little space: and I was quite pleased with it.  The boys each have their own IKEA-hack shelf with their daily read-alouds picked our for them, as well as a little calendar to learn more about the seasons and weather (mostly for Isaiah) and laminated prayer cards of the Morning Offering, the Act of Contrition and the Anima Christi. Oh, and the lunar cycle there for good measure. We love the moon a lot around here. Anyway, I went to bed that night thinking I'd sleep the sleep of ...
Read more

And the millstone award goes to...

Image
On Monday I needed to do some errands -- the weekly groceries, a trip to the bank, and I was in need of a gift for my mother-in-law who's birthday was coming up. She is an avid bibliophile, and I thought she might like One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp, something I haven't read (yet!) but based on my exposure to Ann Voskamp's writing, it really seemed up my mother-in-law's alley. Rather than wasting the gas by going into the city another day during the week, I decided to bundle the kids up and do all the errands in one packed morning. We had a grand ol' time. We always do, really, when we head out (especially when we are lucky enough to have  this song  play on the radio while we cruise around). When we arrived at Chapters, I quickly found the Voskamp book, found a nice day-planner for myself at 75% off (yipee!) and then told the boys we could play around in the kids' section for a while. They have a Thomas train table set up there, as well as other vario...
Read more

7 Quick Takes on things that are bringing me JOY

Image
I don't even know if anyone still does 7 Quick Takes anymore, but I was in the mood for an old-school blog post, so here goes. 1. The Nester on Instagram . Her stories taking her followers shopping are DELIGHTFUL. She goes to antique malls or home goods stores and explains why you want feather throw pillows, not poly. Or why you want accent items that are at least as big as pineapple (any smaller, these items will begin to feel like clutter). It's really tremendously helpful and she's just so sweet and uplifting! {Do you not use this app? Never fear. Even without an Instagram account, you can open the website on your computer browser, and because her profile is set to public, you can access her photos and stories.} The Nester is just really calming, wise and has such great home decor advice. While we have quite different style, I devour her insights to apply to our own home. 2. Nature journalling with the kids .  Oh my, I always thought this was like, some lofty thing that ...
Read more