We wait a long time for this season and have no shame in living it up like it's the last day we will feel the sun on our faces. It is a season where we see certain folks that we otherwise don't during the shut in months and we eat certain foods unavailable six months from now and savor sitting outside for leisurely lunches on backyard patios.
Bedtimes seem to fade- is that my six year running down the sidewalk barefoot still wearing his swimsuit long after dark with a drippy popsicle hanging from his hand? Why yes, I do believe it is! And I make no apologies. Morning routines are botched and sports are occasionally skipped. As annoying as it can be sometimes, I do love the "swap the kids" around the neighborhood business that seems to be pure Minnesota. In our old California neighborhood I didn't ever experience the "summer parent support system" of "I need to take J to baseball so can you take Z and G and when I get back send F, C and C over for a while so you can run some errands and then let's meet up because I need to take M and J over to the F's for a movie date with their nanny and then my Dad is going to take them to DQ for a while and then we'll all get together in your backyard so Mr. C can BBQ??" Yup, that's pretty much the daily story around here for three solid months and we are lucky and we love it and we are all ready for it end by Labor Day.
But until then I will soak up the sound of cicadas, the smell of freshly cut grass, the dirty bare feet, the freckled noses, sunscreen smell on my boys' hair, early morning walks before it gets too hot (okay, who am I kidding, mid morning), back yard movies, and the freedom my boys feel from fishing in the creek down the block by themselves. That is pure Minnesota summer- and I'm very thankful you have decided to arrive.
