The summer is over. It’s a good thing, because
somewhere around last week I hit the wall.
It’s funny how the wall changes depending on
how long summer has been. It’s not a static point of time, this term that precedes
wall-hitting. For me it changes according to the number of balls I am juggling and
the innate annoyance level of people in my home, which fluctuates wildly.
Take, for example, the two teens in my house. Their
annoyance level is usually low, but around Tuesday of last week they suddenly seemed
to multiply and took on the space and need requirements of six to eight infants
and an equal number of large dogs.
My husband, whose annoyance level is medium to
high, was home a lot and this means we got a lot of face time with each other,
which is good for reconnecting but bad for my need for personal space. My
husband is a champion Personal Space Invader.
And the noise. Oh, the noise.
Every TV in the house was in an on-only mode, backed
by the chirp of all the electronics and the hum of air-conditioning. Conversations,
questions, doors opening and closing, asking for rides and phone calls saying
where-are-you-you’re-one-minute-late and plan-making and general breathing. The
breathing, you guys. EVERBODY WAS BREATHING AT THE SAME TIME.
Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale.
I barely made it. It’s a good thing summer is
over.
When the kids went back to school, I decided to
get organized and spent the better part of their first day furiously updating
our family calendar with practices and games and back to school nights. It was
a labor-intensive job that set my nerves on edge a little bit. I could feel the
frantic rush of the school year closing in.
One day into the school year, I started to miss
summer a little bit.
I found myself missing the slow days, never-ending
sleepovers that end in no sleep at all, stepping outside and hitting a wall of
heat, looking forward to vacations at the shore and summer camp. Reading books
and binge-watching Netflix and old Disney movies that surface on lazy days.
Hanging out on the patio and chatting about everything and nothing in
particular until the bugs started to bite.
I wish we had more time to do this stuff.
But of course we will again. There’s always
next summer.
You know, 277 days from now.
*******
This post inspired by:
Mama Kat's Writing Workshop
Prompt #1: What did not
get accomplished this summer that you wish you had time for?
You had me at Personal Space Invader! Since I work at my hubby's business and we are in each other's faces constantly, I look to escape often during our down time. Summertime brings some respite because he's always busy doing outside chores...until he finds me sitting with some book and comments "oh, you're reading..". I won't expand further on my reply to that.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like you had a wonderful summer, in spite of it all. And, yes, it will be back before you know it with more of the same experiences. Keep breathing!
Thanks for the encouragement! The years fly by so quickly - is it weird that I'm counting down the days until next summer already?
DeleteI mean, I just like to know. ;)
Funny how we are so ready for kids to go back to school. The never ending bickering got to me in the end. After only being in school three days, they are all best friends again.
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't take long for them to adjust back to a school schedule and miss each other just enough to not be at each other's throats all the time.
DeleteGreat post. The kids part is funny, but the personal space invader is even more funny. My kids are all grown and the last one is in college, living on her own so summers don't mean anything in that way to me anymore. But, my husband is retired and I'm not and I work from home so...24/7! I think I'll start going to the beach before the summer is really gone!
ReplyDeleteThank you! The beach is always a great idea. We always talk about squeezing that one last vacation in before the craziness of the school year starts, but we haven't. It might take an empty nest to do it!
DeleteI'm counting them down, too. I miss the slow summer pace, and we've only been back at it for three days. Funny post!
ReplyDeleteThanks! This year I've really been mourning the summer, more than any other. I think because it's finally relaxing for me, too, now that the kids are pretty independent.
DeleteI get SO antsy (like jaw-stiffened, teeth-gritted antsy) when everyone is home and all the TVs are going and the dogs are walking around shedding and it's just TOOO much.
ReplyDeleteIn other words, I feel you, mama. (But silently. And without breathing.)
Antsy is the word. "I just need everyone to leave" is what I end up blurting out.
DeleteAnd then they're all gone and I get a little sad. But not TOO much.
Everybody was breathing at the same time....oh, how I recognize that level of irritability. Been there a few times!
ReplyDeleteSeriously with the breathing and the constant eating. Is there any end to it?
DeleteWait. That didn't sound right. :)
I was JUST telling my Mom this same thing! That suddenly switch was flipped and I was ready for school. I think it's a combination of just being ready for an organized day again paired with my kids bickering and boredom that peaked in a way that tested my sanity. Thank goodness for school!
ReplyDeleteWe went back to school a week after other school districts in our area, and I recognized that my friends in these other districts went crazy exactly a week before I went crazy. It wasn't the length of summer that made us all hit the wall, I guess, but rather that there was only one week of summer left.
Delete