So far this summer, Sunshine has taken 3 dance classes, played softball, and takes tennis lessons. Monster not only takes karate, but he teaches it. That means he has a job that he needs to be responsible for. Are there teens out there who don’t work? I had a summer job from the time I was 13 on. So did Husband. My son has called off a couple of days, but we try to make sure he’s there for the days he has the most students so they won’t have to try to find someone to cover for him. Besides that, Husband can’t take off tons of days. Heck, he had to work on an emergency trip we took to see his dad. I drove the 8 hours and he worked in the passenger seat.
Then let’s add in summer school work. Husband had to work on the trip to see his dad and so did Monster. He had to work on school work. I guess if your kid isn’t in Honors classes, there’s really no work to do, but Honors and AP classes had a lot. And, I won’t admit this to him, he actually got his stuff done super early compared to other kids in those classes waiting until the very last minute.
And what about chores? My kid mows the lawn. Not because he’s just super helpful like that, but because it’s his job. It’s crazy, but just because it’s summer doesn’t mean all the work that I normally do during the school year stops. In fact, it compiles with more people home and us being on the go more. I’ll tell you, I look around my neighborhood, and all those families with teenagers or young adults living at home, my teenager is the only one mowing the lawn. They have other chores, as well, not just lawn mowing.
I’m not saying that we don’t get to enjoy our summer, because we definitely are. We just enjoy it close to home. We take trips in which we can be back in time for dinner to get everyone they need to be in the evening. And we have to enjoy it without Husband. He’s never been to the zoo, even though we go every year. I guess he didn’t figure out what job he could sign up for that allowed all sorts of vacation time. We swim whenever we can because we have a pool in our backyard. Our days are packed as well as our nights. Until my kids move out, I’m resigned to the fact that our summers will be wild and crazy. After the kids move out, it’s going to be way too quiet since Husband will still have to work a job where he can’t just take off willy-nilly (seriously, how do we sign up for those jobs that would allow us to travel whenever we want? Sign us up, please!). I love that my kids are so active and learning to become strong members of society. As of written before, I do wish we had more time like last summer, but even then, it's not like we sat around doing nothing. Life still goes on, and ours happens to be a busy life. I embrace summer and all its craziness. I'm so very sad to see it coming to an end. I love being with my kids, even if that's chauffeuring them around!