Summer Slow Down

:: Summer Slow Down ::

Memorial Day Weekend is over and just like that, the beginning of summer is upon us. My focus has begun to shift from our "busy" schedule, to a more relaxed pace. (In full disclosure, we are not "busy" people because I hate over-scheduling us and running around every day of the week.) Our oldest will finish the school year and summer will be in full swing. 

It got me thinking about how and what we would be doing this summer. It is the time of the year when  the days are long and they melt into cool evenings spent outdoors. I don't ever want to waste a single second of the summer. It is a golden time of play, relaxation, and family. I want a soulful rhythm to envelope our days. I will try and make this happen. It won't be perfect. I can't make our lives perfect because they are imperfect. Some days will be filled with fun activities, swimming, hiking, and friends. Everyone will get along perfectly and not a hair will be out of place. Other days will be disasterous where the humidity has taken its toll, disagreements will ensue, and the dreaded boredom will rear his ugly head. I hope that in those moments will find the perfect in the imperfect. Then it will be the perfect moment to step back, settle down, and be. Whether it is reading a book or taking a 10 minute quiet time out to just re-focus (and I am talking about me, not just the kids). 

To me, summer should be about doing all the things that we don't get to do during the year.  So I am sharing my summer manifesto.  A proclamation of summer in our home. It is going to hang in our kitchen so that when I feel like everything going wrong I can gently be reminded that we are right where we are supposed to be. 

A Summer Manifesto. 

Projects will be started on our kitchen table, crafts may take several days, and there will be glitter. Lots of glitter. The children will stay up later, eat lots of popsicles, and swim until I think I see gills growing on them. We will pick strawberries in the hot sun and have ice cream for lunch. I will write more, sew more, and experiment in the kitchen more. We will eat salad. We will eat more salad. Bonfires will be built and s'mores made. Overnights at the grandparent's house. Friendship bracelets will be made. Toy trucks will be run through the dirt and mud. Laundry will languish for another day while bathing suits will become standard attire for the day. No socks. Socks and shoes will be hidden away until the crisp air of autumn sneaks back in. The cleaning can wait. We will get bored but in this boredom will come creative new ways to have fun. The television and Netflix watching will become ancient relics because it will be far better to watch the sun set in the evening sky. Day trips. Trails will be hiked. Wild animals will make appearances and we will name them all. Sidewalk chalk and dirt will settle on our hands and feet as we create beautiful masterpieces on the walk in front of our home. We will eat vegetables. Zucchini cooked million different ways. And we will love as we say goodnight each night even if the day is one I would rather not repeat because even in those imperfect moments there was love and family. 

Summer is upon us and the memories are there for the making. We will make it a good one.