It’s officially the last full week of Summer. Next week, school starts.
Sigh.
It’s no secret that I’m enjoying the lazy Summer days at home with my little people. So I’m dragging my feet about restarting routines and schedules and all other forms of “busy-ness”.
Yet this is the time when we should start adjusting bedtimes and wakeup times so that we can function on the school week schedule again. And it’s not just the schedule. It has come to my attention that there’s probably more I should be doing to help her prepare for this transition. For example, it might be time to teach her to sit at a table to eat food again. Actually, just sitting still for more than two minutes at a time might be a good goal. And I suppose a little (or a lot) of screen time detox probably wouldn’t hurt.
Honestly, we did try to keep up with our academic endeavors over the summer. We read each night before bed. We practiced sight words sometimes and handwriting sometimes. We played school with weekly spelling words (that we remembered to work on a few times a month).
But it’s obvious this week that Summer has taken its toll. When I ask her to read me a book, we get a page in before the “I’m tired of reading” starts. When we work on counting coins, before five minutes has passed she is giving me an apathetic stare like I’m torturing her.
So it seems like a no-brainer to me that we should spend the coming week in “transition bootcamp”. Surely it wouldn’t be that hard to shape our days to more closely resemble a school day schedule in hopes that the transition to the school year will be as smooth as possible.
On the other hand, though, it’s our last week of Summer. (Please read italicized text in pouting voice with foot stomping.) Shouldn’t we soak up the last little bit of sleeping in, eating snacks on the couch, watching too much tv, and playing whatever we want whenever we want to? Why waste any part of this precious time “preparing” for what will be here soon enough as it is?
So after reviewing the pros and cons of each argument, I’ve determined there is only one course of action to take.
We will be doing both.
Because seriously. How could we choose? One approach helps make a tough transition more manageable. Why wouldn’t I do that for her if I could? And the other approach is about savoring something beautiful, living in the moment, and making the best of the time we have. Isn’t that equally as important?
Really, it’s the age old balance of trying to live for the day and also prepare for the future. Is it possible? I freakin’ hope so. Because we’re sure as hell going to try.
We will wake up in the morning at a near school schedule-ish time. And then we will savor the slow mornings with heart-shaped pancakes with sprinkles. We’ll cut back our screen time. And we will replace it with mud kitchen adventures outside and swimming and field trips. We’ll sit down and practice our reading stamina and our math skills. And then we will reward ourselves for our hard work with dance parties and family board games. We’ll eat lunch at the table using our best manners to practicing sitting still and cleaning up our own plate. And then we will have pizza and movie nights on the couch in the evening.
Because finding this balance isn’t just about the last week of Summer. It’s about how we approach every day. It’s about finding a balance in how we parent our little people. And how that balance will help them to find balance in their own lives.
And honestly, it’s about finding balance in our own lives as parents. I’m constantly trying to find the sweet spot between enjoying this moment and thinking about what I should be doing to prepare my children (and myself) for the future. I need to correct her manners so that she learns, but I also need to find time to appreciate her silliness and laugh along with her. I need to help her learn responsibility, but I also need to let her savor this time of still being a carefree child.
And that’s the bottom line, isn’t it? I can’t choose between preparing and savoring because she needs both.
We all need both.