The Groundhog Days of Summer

Family

pencil shavings studio carlton landing-21We’ve reached the point in summer where the days are stretching interminably one into another. Weekdays are no longer distinguishable from weekends. One sweltering day blends seamlessly into another (hot) day.

dowager countess - downton abbey - what is a weekend?

Finding balance in summer is tough as a mom. Last summer I was overzealous and scheduled something every other week, which quickly got to be exhausting for all of us. Plus I was navigating life with a newborn and all THAT entails. We even went on a Disney cruise and I literally remember NONE of it.

This summer I was slow to get anything scheduled for Jude in memory (albeit dim) of what had happened last year. But I finally got it together and organized a few different camps all at the beginning of the summer, but hardly anything for July. Now that we are wading knee-deep into July, it’s apparent to me that this was ALSO a mistake.

Balance. It’s ever-shifting, always just out of reach. It’s the time slipping through your fingers as you realize your baby is no longer a baby and you watch your oldest leap headfirst through the schoolyear in the blink of an eye. It’s the realization that one day you will look back at what you will describe as ‘the best years of our lives.’ And the realization that in fact, we are living those days. Right now. Today. Yesterday. Tomorrow.

Carlton Landing lake house - www.pencilshavingsstudio.com

But for me personally, this summer is different because for the first time in 5 years, I don’t have my shop to maintain. This has taken a HUGE burden off of me in so many ways. And I’ve also hired a babysitter to come 2x a week to help give me a break and this has also largely influenced my (somewhat) returning sanity. And I’m learning to take it easy on myself, especially in light of what amounts to 2 years of sleep deprivation. We’re one month through Archer sleeping through the night and it’s only now starting to feel like I can see sanity in my sightline.

I think it’s important to document things like how our days have passed — it’s fun to look back and remember the craziness, right?  I know Jude feels a little stunted by our 2-nap-a-day schedule with Archer, but that’s ok. It won’t last forever. Our summer days go when we have no camp/activity planned:
7am Jude is up and at ’em and YouTube is blaring loudly (do not even get me started on how much I hate the YouTubes). Jude is convinced he wants to become a vlogger so he can get free stuff. Uhhh ….

7:30 Baby is squawking to get out of his crib. I stumble upstairs to change his diaper and bring him downstairs to snuggle a bit.

7:30-9:00am I make Jude turn off the DumbTube and get his chores done. This involves poop patrol (ahem, Nickels), unloading the dishwasher, making his bed, picking up his shoes, and making sure the basketball cards are corralled. We also eat breakfast, that sort of thing.

9:00am Baby goes down for nap #1 of the day, which is only allowed to be 45 minutes long (see previous discussion on our sleep issues here).

Then, once he gets up from that, we have a wide open free time to go out, run errands, do something fun, grocery shop, etc.

1:00pm Nap #2 of the day. This is my time to get any blogging done, miscellaneous photography, projects, etc. Or I end up on the couch with a book and eventually a mini nap myself.

3:00pm-5:30pm Our second period of the day to get out of the house, go swimming, run errands, do something fun. Lately it’s been the indoor playground at the Dynamo Gymnastics place down the way. Air conditioned! YES!

6:30-7:00pm Archer goes down for the evening (and sleeps til 7:30! YES! SUCCESS!!!!)

with love,
Rachel

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *