Summer Fun and Woos!

Every year I go through a sort of celebration/depression regarding the end of school/beginning of summer.  I know that you are wondering how in the world someone that gets two months off could be anything but excited....let me explain:

The Celebration -

• I love the idea of summer. 
• I love saying "bye" to long work days, grumpy moods, grades, parent emails, and discipline referrals. 
• I love saying "so long" to kindergarten homework that seems to take a lifetime. 
• I love saying "hello" to all the fun things I want to do with my kids.  Like learning to take pics. (Brock is taking this one.)

• I love the IDEA of sleeping late, which doesn't really happen.  But I do like the fact that if I have to be awake, at least I don't have to get out of my pj's. 
• I love not being tired at night when Jeremy has time to hang out.
• I do like teaching, but there are sometimes that having a student for one year is enough.  Change is good!
• I am also thankful that I have a husband to mow the lawn...with a little helper of course.

Depression -

• There is about two weeks worth of training I have to do, plus unpacking all the boxes from moving classrooms over the summer.
• There are some students that will stick in your brain for a lifetime.  They are the ones that you agonize over on a daily basis, sinking your heart into their successes and failures. 
• Lack of adult interaction seems to get to me.  Jeremy is there, but his ADHD kicks in, and he is gone just as fast.
• Being the main parent that takes care of the kids often wears me down.  I love my kids, but I also appreciate them much more when I work.  I have time away to reflect on how awesome they are!
• It is weird sometimes to be off when your other friends are working.  I equate the feeling to being awake in the middle of the night with a newborn and nothing to do.
• Summer seems to be difficult on my sense of fairness.  Because of Jeremy's schedule, I end up being a stay-at-home mom most of the time. 
• I am finally able to keep up with the house, friends, family, and doting over the hubster.  But there is a dark side to this - I often catch myself resenting the fact that I am home doing it all alone. 
• I get grumbly that Jeremy can't pick up and go whenever we feel like it.  As my friend Susan says, "I get my helping of GRUMPY PUFFS" quite frequently in the summer. 
• I miss the adult time. 
• I also seem to spend more money in the summer.  I have no idea why, but I do. I used to be an expert at doing free things with the kids.  I need to find that "me" again.

So in honor of the summer to come, I am posting pics that were taken on a morning trip with friends to a park here in town.

The Plan this Year.....SURVIVE......preferably with my marriage intact and my kids in one piece.  :)