Summer vacation already, are you sure?

Today is the day, the last day of school. The air smells of excited kids and anxious parents. What am I going to do with them home all summer? You are probably asking yourself that same question. I know I am. Are there enough summer activities for them to do to keep them from driving me crazy? There isn’t enough stuff to do under the sun to keep me sane over summer vacation. I think my sanity returns every year to “normal” around March, just in time for a couple of nice months of clarity before I loose it again to summer vacation.
The kids have summer activities planned: golf lessons, library visits, playground trips, swimming lessons, picnics, beach days, summer camp, hikes, music lessons, vacation Bible school, Scout meetings, and maybe a museum trip or two. My head swims with keeping everyone’s schedules straight. This doesn’t even include anything of Max’s or mine. Our summer calendar looks crazy busy. I know it looks like a lot of activities, but six days into summer vacation, I’m going to get hit with a whinny, “I’m bored. There’s nothing to do.” Heaven forbid, they just go outside and play or read (“read, are you kidding, its summer vacation mom. Geeze!”)
Remember summer vacation when we were young? I think I spent most of the day outside playing, building forts, exploring and in the evenings the baths left dirt rings in the tub. I remember running barefoot everywhere. The souls of my feet getting thick and tough, and not being able to even find my shoes for church on Sunday. A trip to DQ was a treat and Saturday mornings were prime cartoon time. I’m getting wistful just thinking about the freedom of summer vacation. Maybe this summer won’t be too bad…