It seems there just hasn’t been time to blog lately. I’ve been opting for sleep instead of late nights at the computer. During the day my girls screen time is very limited, I feel I have to set a good example by staying off my computer and not be constantly checking my phone. It just feels better to be less connected, but also good to know it is there when we feel like using it. It’s a catch 22, really. As the girls get older, they are wanting to rely more on technology, games, phones, iPads and the likes for entertainment when they get bored of old fashion play. But we are still doing our best to fill our summer with old fashion play. 

As my girls get older setting rules and boundaries gets harder. I want to be a yes mom, but you can’t not ever say no. I’m working on finding the medium these day, and wading my way through parenting into the days where my oldest is almost 9. Figuring how to still be the fun mom, when you do sometimes have to say no. Then I have these moments….

Walking around downtown after dinner recently with just my oldest daughter, we walked through a small park, and past a small point where we used to sit and picnic when she was 10 months old. It was during our first days after moving to our small town, from Atlanta. It is a quant place, with a little stream and nature. Now the space holds several pieces of outdoor art and sculptures. And now my first baby is half the size of the oversized sculpture that now lives where we picnicked when she was 1o months old. And I thought, life is too short to be short. I don’t want to be snappy with my girls or loose my witts. Because life is just too short. She is nearly halfway to being an adult. ALREADY.

There is still plenty of old fashion play this summer. A nature camp has been organized in the backyard (by my oldest daughter) complete with a packing list for each camper (including a good mood) and a camp necklace.

My oldest and a friend formed a band, wrote songs, and posted flyers for the show. Stage fright set in when an impromptu audience of about 20 people actually showed up for the show. It was a busy walking day and it seemed everyone was out and about! It’s also a reminder that it’s not about the show, but about the preparations – which is always the case with performance play. Sweet that it is. 

At least there was a snack bar – which was an impromtu hit and mimicked an old fashion lemonade stand. Except it was stocked with individual ice cream treats left over from birthday parties, which had just been passed off to me from a neighbor who was moving and cleaning out her freezer.  My middle girl was calling for more sales and more customers, YES, using my high school cheerleading megaphone! 

There has been an art show set up our mudroom, many iPhone movies made, forts built, hotels set up (including a turndown service with chocolate – of course!), pool days, rounds of golf, sleepovers, dinners with neighbors, visits with a cousin and rainy days spent at amusement parks and water parks. We have a lot of rain this summer!

We’ve checked a few other things off our summer list, like making bouncy balls (which was a flop), playing dress up with my old prom dresses and Southern Belle dresses from college (more than once) and doing lots of pre-school art – which is my personal favorite. Watercolors, glitter, paint and more paint, and MESSY play dough with just as much flour as play dough (must DO outside). 

And even loom art – well, sort of….

The next photo was “purchased” at the “Art Show.” The cost was $3. She was happy with the sale, as you can see.

A few of the crew from last year made it to the top of Mt. LeConte again. Other plans held back the other half of us, so we enjoyed some one girl-on-one mom time. It’s rare and always loved. 

Back home, it’s been normal to find things being a little disheveled this summer. Nearly every stair step halfway up to the girls level of the house stays full of their “things” that need to be put way. But they might as well just live on the stairs and in laundry baskets full of clean clothes that I can not arm-twist them into putting away either. Books waiting to be replaced inside shelves stayed stacked on the floor for a week.

And if you come to my house you are likely to see a cat sleeping on a kitchen shelf. Because he is the sweetest, most kid-tolerant cat in the world. We rescued him when he showed up on our door step two years ago, scrawny and injured. He tested positive for Feline Leukemia and he “should have” been “put down.” But I didn’t have the heart to do it. My then 4-year-old had already named him Fruit Punch. So he stayed. He’s happy, healthy and fat as can be now. Life is just too short for me to tell him he can’t sleep on his favorite green shelf in the kitchen.

And life is too short not to have a good time with my kids this summer. Life is too short for me to lose my patience and not admit when I make mistakes with my girls. Life is too short to not enjoy every moment with them while we’ve got them close to us. Sometimes it’s exhausting and emotionally taxing. And sometimes, it’s perfectly okay to end our days like this.

The good thing is, having kids is always rewarding. Always full of moments. Simple and challenging. Complex and sweet. And when we need it, there is always tomorrow.

I can not image spending my summer days any other way.