The Mixed Emotions of Summer

School's out for summer. Yay. Oh, sorry. I mean, YAY!!! 

I have mixed emotions about the summer. I do like having my kids around. Sort of. At least part of the time. 

I love not packing a lunch every day. When your kids don't really like sandwiches, getting creative with a healthy lunch in a lunchbox gets tricky.

I love not rushing in the morning. Today, for instance, I got back from my spin class around 7:15 (large coffe in hand, of course), and it was so nice to just relax, and to let the kids relax. 

So what's not to love?

Well, first, there's the fighting. Ava and Davis are typical siblings. They lovehate each other. And right now, Davis wants Ava to play with him all the time, and Ava just wants to do her own thing, usually without her little brother. So, feelings get hurt, and then you know who Davis recruits as his playmate? That's right. Me. And guess what? I don't really like to play. 

Did I say that out loud?

I love my kids, and they are my everything, but playing is just not my thing. I'll do it if I must, but I feel like it's important for them to be able to entertain themselves. I don't mind helping them get started with something, but I'm just certain I'm not their consumate playmate. 

Another thing I don't love about summer? Sunscreen. And as the mother of the World's Whitest Children, sunscreen is our reality. For a couple of years now, I've been the no-chemical suncreen nazi. But now I just reach for whatever is easiest and stays on best, with the least amount of greasiness. 

Also, it's just more effort to have time for MY stuff in the summer. Tennis, workouts, and even my actual job (real estate, remember? don't forget to call me if you need help buying or selling!)? They either require an early start (the workouts) or a babysitter. Tomorrow I'm going to try taking my kids to my tennis clinic and hoping that I will be able to go at least 10 of the 60 minutes I'm there without having to reprimand anyone. 

All this to say that I love summer, but am happy when we get back to a real routine in the fall. For now, though, I'll try to keep the summer happy and light, and mandate that happy hour be moved to 3pm. Or 10am. Whatever.

The Smackdown

A couple of months ago, my mom was watching my kids for me. Ava was doing a little impromptu performance of some songs from a school concert. Bunnie (that's my mom's grandmother name), ever the doting grandmother, indulged Ava and recorded her singing. What happened mid-performance could not have been planned. Be sure to watch to the very end. Let's just call it sibling rivalry:

This is only a piece of why summer seems a little long at the moment.

Do They Make Thundershirts for Kids?

I made it almost a month since blogging. Terrible. Seriously, I don't know how the everyday bloggers do it. I just can't find the time.

I won't waste too much of your time on what I've been up to. Just a quick summary - Davis cut a chunk of his hair, preschool got out, Davis went to the ER after his end-of-year party for a possible head injury (he's fine), Ava has been throwing tantrums like a madwoman, we hit the beach for Memorial Day, and am now waiting for June 10 when Ava finally gets out of school.

Speaking of Ava, let's talk about her anxiety for a few minutes. Specifically, her storm/weather anxiety. She's always feared many things, often irrationally. Very irrationally. A prime example would be that she is terrified that her lovie's head is going to fall off. It's one of these:

His name, not surprisingly, is Froggie. I swear I'm not exaggerating when I say that not a week goes by that Ava doesn't ask me, "Is Froggie's head going to fall off?" Naturally, I say no. But it's clear that she doesn't believe me. She freaks out on the months weeks that I change her sheets because I might touch Froggie and rip his head from his blanket body.

Because, you know, that's just how I am. Murderer of children's comfort items.

So, thunderstorms. She's not a fan. Neither is my dog. But he has a Thundershirt.

We got caught in a really bad storm earlier in the spring, so I can kind of get that she's nervous. But what I'm talking about isn't a nervous kid. It's obsessive. It's ridiculous. And it's daily.

It doesn't matter if the skies are Carolina blue and totally cloudless. She is worrying to death that there's going to be a storm. It's like this:

"Is that a cloud?"
"Is it going to storm?"
"I need to check the weather."
"We shouldn't go to the pool. I see a storm cloud." (because storm clouds are often camoflauged by sunny skies)
"I don't think it's a good day to play outside. It could storm."

My responses generally go like this:

"It's okay, honey. It's a nice day."
"It's not going to storm. It's sunny."
"I watched the weather already. You need to relax."
"Seriously. This is getting ridiculous. Trust me."
"ARE YOU KIDDING ME? CAN YOU NOT SEE THAT IT IS SUNNY, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD????"

I'm starting to think we need professional help. In all seriousness, the fear is getting in the way of a normal existence for her. I'm thinking a pro could at least give her some tools to work through her fears?

Or maybe just a strong Xanax prescription. If not for her, then for me.

 

Happy Campers

Ava and her daddy just headed out for a Y-Princesses weekend at Camp Seafarer. I'm kind of jealous. I love camp. And that's kind of weird, considering that I am not the least bit outdoorsy (maybe I'll tell you about the monthlong NOLS trip I took in college. Summary: I lasted one night.)

I had a harder time saying goodbye than I thought I would. But I'll be happy for the sibling banter to take a rest for a couple of days. There's a high level of it these days. 

Back to camp. A ton of Ava's close friends are already coming up on their second year of going to summer camp overnight. The first time I went, it was the summer after fourth grade. I was nine, and turned ten later that summer. I went for three weeks, but knew tons of girls who were there. The camp I went to was a little on the rustic side. For instance, there was a pool, but it was filled with lake water. Ewww. And there were snakes. There was also a lake, and there was a brook that ran behind our cabin. You could hear it running at night. That's probably why our cabin was called "Brookside." I think we ate food that was all raised/grown on the camp's farm. Pretty cool. They were totally rocking the farm-to-table movement before it was even in our lexicon. 

The mountain camp was nice, but maybe a little on the earthy side for my taste. It was green before it was cool to go green. Nothing wrong with that, but just not really my cup of tea. For the next three years, it was on to Camp Thunderbird, located on Lake Wylie. That was more like it. Skiing, sailing, swimming.....and not too rustic. I still have the best memories of it, and would just love for my kids to have similar camp memories.

So, back to Ava. As I said, a good portion of her buddies go to camp. Many went for a week last year, and are moving on to two weeks this year. I guess I should count my dollars blessings that Ava doesn't want to go, because I'm sure the day will come - all too soon - when she is happier to be with her friends than with her daddy and me. But at the same time, I think it would be a huge confidence boost for her to be kind of independent for a few days. 

Then again, one week of overnight camp would pretty much eat up my entire summer activity budget. 

Oh, and that earthy camp I went to? I heard they have chlorinated water in the pool now. Welcome to the 2000s, folks. 

Weekend Wrap-Up

What a fast weekend. I guess that means it was a good one, right? Davis had his first t-ball game Friday afternoon. Not sure about his ability on the diamond, but he sure did look cute in his uniform. Ava was a proud big sis:

This sweet picture was taken before the all-out brawl that D got into on second base. I wish I had a picture. It was nuts. Luckily, Morgan was there and yanked Davis out of the game for the remainder of the inning. 

After all that, I picked up a couple of McDonald's Happy Meals for the kids (hello, mom of the year!). I assisted in feeding and bathing, then headed over to a good friend's house for wine and dessert. Perfect end to the week. 

Saturday started with a cardio tennis clinic at 7:15am (too early, but fun), then a little shopping (mostly for Morgan and the kids), and a family lunch outdoors. Ava had a playdate, and our house was really quiet when Davis actually took a nap. We grilled kabobs for dinner, which the kids were disgusted by. That was fine, since it meant more for the adults.

Speaking of kabobs, and meat, Ava declared yesterday that she wants to be a vegetarian. She said she thought that eating animals isn't very nice. Then I cooked breakfast for their dinner last night, and she asked for thirds of bacon. I guess she doesn't regard pigs as highly as other animals. Apparently, her inspiration did not come from reading Charlotte's Web.

Speaking of food, I have the slow cooker chicken Gyro recipe cooking right now. I'll let you know how it it. Pretty sure you can't go wrong stuffing chicken into bread and then smothering it with tzatziki sauce. I actually have a meal plan for the whole week. Well, at least Monday-Thursday. Can you believe it? It only involves eating out one time. 

Kudos to me.

Lazy, or Just Busy?

Friends, I confess that I have cooked only one time this week. Two times if you count the rotisserie chicken I got from Harris Teeter on Monday night. We've had kids' activities the last two nights, and Davis has a T-ball game this evening. No way am I getting home after 6:30 and starting to cook.

I gotta know - what do y'all do for meals on your busy week? My wallet and my waistline need a break from eating out. And my kids need better meals, too.

The one meal I did cook was a hit - fish tacos. So easy. And a hit with all. I used panko breaded tilapia from Trader Joe's. It was good, but the same thing from Costco is a little better. Anyway, I cooked the fish, then whipped up a little guacamole, warmed up some black beans, and, voila, dinner. In 25 minutes. Sorry I don't have a picture - it just all got devoured.

As for these busy evenings, I just don't know what to make. I try so hard with the crock pot, but I am just not a fan of slow-cooker meals. I think they all taste the same. I could also go without meat most nights, and I haven't found any great vegetarian options for the slow cooker. I think when you combine a bunch of canned ingredients and let them simmer all day, it just starts to taste like mush.

I did come across this one on Pinterest, which looks a little more promising:

I'll try it out next week and let you know.

Also, did you see that my all-time fave was chosen as People Magazine's Most Beautiful Woman?

Evidently, lots of people can't stand her. I personally kind of appreciate her overt snobbishness, and the fact that she doesn't pretend to be just like the rest of us.

Happy weekend!

Monday Musings

Lord have mercy, am I glad to see Monday. I know, I know. Crazy. But Morgan has been traveling on and off for 2 weeks, and I was so happy for his return yesterday. I don't really mind doing the single parenting thing during the week, but I hate it when I have to do it over a weekend. The kids and I had planned to spend the weekend in Northern Virginia with my sister, but then the weather wasn't going to be great, and I wasn't looking forward to spending 9-10 hours in the car with the kids. So, trip postponed.

Morgan returned yesterday and handed over some cold hard cash - my cut of his golf trip winnings. What's a girl to do with cash in hand? Shop, of course. I was looking forward to some me time, but I knew Ava would love to have some special girl time, so I took her along. It was the best time I've had with her in a long time. We've been at odds a lot lately, and I think the shopping trip was just the therapy we needed. We even tried on semi-matching stripes at J.Crew:

That dress might have come home with me. J.Crew was kind enough to offer 25% off your whole purchase yesterday. Happy surprise.

Gap was also generous, giving us 30% off. They have some pretty cute stuff right now, including these items:

Striped shorts

maxi dress

Ava got a few things - mostly just some basic tees. She doesn't need much, but definitely needed some basics. She's between sizes in a lot of stuff, so it's hard. Do you buy big and hope maybe she can wear it next year, or wear what fits now, but with no room to grow? 

We finished off our shopping excursion with a trip to Barnes and Noble. We both just read a few books in store. I think I'm going to re-read Gatsby before the movie comes out. I think Leonardo DiCaprio is the perfect choice to play Jay Gatsby.

I also read the first couple of chapters of the book The Dinner. I'm pretty intrigued by it, but it's gotten fairly mixed reviews on Amazon. If you've read it, let me know how it was. 

Happy Monday!