Crazy Days of Summer

Ah, the triumph of hope over experience. Every year I think it will be different, every year it’s the same.

It’s the last few weeks of the school year.  When time goes on warp speed and EVERYTHING gets crammed into these last precious days.

Right now I can’t keep track of what’s going on, who should be where, what should I be doing.

Please tell me I am not alone in this?!

Today, for example, I completely forgot that my youngest had a school trip. And I had volunteered to go along. Cue phone call after drop off and mad dash back across town. I had been planning to spend the morning getting on top of things. Instead ‘things’ turned around and climbed right back on top of me.

So, in June, we have the school performance (which we nearly missed..despite my kids both being in it) the summer fete, the talent show. A school trip. Fields days in the forest, x2, to which parents are invited. Yes, now is the time when ‘parents are welcome’ is met by an inner groan. Presents for the teachers. Class parties. Exhibitions.

And it feels like literally everyone’s birthday is in June. Party invites are back to back.

And then there’s the leaving parties, leaving lunches, the last minute get togethers.

Throw into the mix the fact we are going on a last minute look-see visit this week and the contents of my mind right now resemble the contents of my handbag. A big old mixed-up mess.

So this is really just a shout out to everyone else is in the same boat – you know, the one that feels like it’s about to sink, and water’s coming in faster than you can empty it out.

Or perhaps that’s an analogy too far. Because really, all this stuff is the good stuff. It just seems to get concertinaed into too short a space of time.

So rather than a sinking ship, it’s more like I’m on a sagging pool inflatable. Which may or may not stay afloat. But if I fall in, it’s not really a problem – and you can bet I’ll keep my margarita out of the pool…

I may just be talking to myself here (wouldn’t be the first time) as you may have everything under control. But I am going to make an effort to enjoy things as they come rather than looking at my ‘to do list’. Which isn’t even a list right now, but scraps of paper with illegible scribble scattered all over the house.

Because time seems to speed up just when we want it to slow down. I want to enjoy every second of the ballet performance. I want to be there for all the school celebrations. I want to relish every hour of my youngest being six before her birthday this week, because I can’t quite believe my baby is about to be seven.

And I want to make the clock go slower so I can make the most of every moment with friends before they leave, because when we come back after the holiday things won’t be quite the same.

So cheers to these crazy days of summer. That are also a bit hazy due to my mind fog and the aforementioned margaritas (ok, that’s just in my head…I am firmly in the land of Riesling).

Soon, school will be out, and hopefully there’ll be some lazy days to enjoy too. Then we can look back on these last few weeks and remember all the fun times. And, a bit like forgetting the pain of childbirth (‘forget’ may be too strong a word) we’ll forget about all the stress and the non-stop activity of it all.

Until next year…