After the Winter That Would Not End and a stumbling, spluttering start to Spring, Summer has finally arrived.
Who needs visions of sugarplums? Kids have been dreaming for weeks about how they will spend these lazy, hazy days of vacation, their imaginations going into overdrive with plans for staying up late, sleeping late, riding bicycles, marathon gaming sessions, popsicles and chasing butterflies.
Or maybe they’re just thinking “no school.”
Either way, there are two-plus months until the bell rings again, herding everyone back into the routine of backpacks, lunch money and AR points.
But kids aren’t the only ones who have a stake in summer vacation. The Last Day of School is circled in red on most parents’ calendars too.
Sure, Mom and Dad approach summer vacation from a different vantage point than do the kids. They are more likely thinking about babysitters and childcare; frantic schedules of shuttling kids from one activity, lesson, practice or game to another; and fears of skyrocketing utility bills as they remember the summer the kids propped the back door open all day so they wouldn’t have to keep interrupting their television watching every time the dog wanted to go outside or come back in.
But maybe this summer could be different.
Maybe this summer could be “the one” … the summer in which kids grow up a little and parents slow down a little.
Maybe Dad can teach his little girl his amazing wrist action secrets for ultimate accuracy in throwing a Frisbee.
Maybe Mom can show all the kids in the neighborhood how she earned the title of “Best Jump Rope Jumper at Longfellow Elementary School.”
Maybe parents and kids can sit down together and talk about the family budget, including goals, dreams and responsibilities.
Maybe everyone can team up to make that backyard campout the best ever, with adults and children
alike pitching in on chores and taking turns telling
scary stories.
Maybe a few “structured activities” – lessons, camps, and even a day at the office – could be put on hold in favor of a bicycle ride on the Greenbelt or a hike at the Rudy Mine Trails.
Maybe summer is an even better season than Christmas to find an agency that needs some volunteers, followed by a conversation about social responsibility and sharing blessings.
Maybe now is the time for kids to think about what they want to be when the grow up, and maybe now is the time when Mom and Dad can take them to places and introduce them to people who can show and tell what that career might look like right here in Daviess County.
None of these ideas cost anything – nothing but time, that is.
And “time” is what summer vacation is all about.Don’t just spend this time. Invest it.