Summers

Inspired by all the recent summer planning podcasts (SHU has one, and also Best of Both Worlds) I got out my Summer Playbook that Sarah gave me last year. I was laughing because my writing in the “brain dump” section starts with “Why does summer never work out the way I plan??? Now I have frickin pinkeye…” Oh yeah, I forgot about that. Last summer had some real lowlights, including getting sick (in retrospect I think it was Covid) and jury duty.

Looking on the bright side, I did get a lot of reading done! I also took a road trip with my son, to help him drive from Texas to Chicago, and I got to visit my sister. Interestingly, I noted in my playbook that Paul would “only” be home for a month that summer.

Yes, two summers ago he was home for the whole summer. Last summer, a month, and this summer… not at all. He’ll stay in his apartment in Chicago and work, and also attend a trumpet conference. The next time we see him will be when we go up for his wedding.

I took a little time to decide how I felt about that. A couple years ago, the thought that there would be a time when he stopped coming home for vacations was so sad. But now, it just feels like a natural progression.

It’s one thing to have a high school student home for the summer, or even a college kid. It’s another to have a full-fledged adult hanging around. Paul likes to stay up late and I was always tempted to stay up with him. But I still had to work, so my whole schedule was thrown off. And the truth is, after about a week Paul was bored. It’s not really that fun living in your parents’ house again when you’ve been on your own for a while.

It’s natural to dread transitions like these, but the truth is, when I actually get to the point, I’m usually ready for it. Using that logic, theoretically I should be ready for my daughter to leave next summer???

Oof. So many changes.

Do you have any big transitions this summer?