The Best-Laid Plans

Before summer started, I had all kinds of fabulous ideas of what I was going to do with my kids this summer. We were going to have a weekly library day, a reading time every afternoon, writing practice with sidewalk chalk after lunch, have the kids help me make dinner a couple of times a week. We would do scavenger hunt walks now and then. We’d go to the splash park with friends at least once a week. I’d have written up a whole year’s worth of kindergarten lesson plans for the coming fall. I’d post in my blog at least every other day. And both my kids would be completely potty-trained by the end of the summer.

Ha. 

Today is July 21^st. We’re pretty much at the midpoint of summer. I should be well into this list by now, but…not so much. We have yet to go to the library, only one child has deigned to play with sidewalk chalk and it was mainly for scribbling on her own body, the closest I’ve come to help with dinner is my son making his own peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich once. We have been to the splash park twice, I’ve pinned a bunch of homeschooling stuff on Pinterest, and I’ve blogged at least every other week. Potty training is…let’s just go with “stalled.”

But much like any other to-do list, sometimes you add the stuff you weren’t planning on doing but did just so you can cross it off. And there were plenty of things I didn’t really plan for but that I did.

We took the kids to Storyland for the first time, and spent the entire day riding rides, eating treats, climbing on stuff, and just generally having fun together.

We’ve spent enough time in our swimming pool that my son can now swim safely without his “floaties” on. And both kids fearlessly jump and dive and splash in the pool.

We’ve spent time at the grocery store talking about different fruits and where they come from.

My son and I had a great discussion about why it’s not healthy to smoke cigarettes, inspired by being stuck in traffic behind a guy sticking his arm out of his car window with a cigarette clenched between his fingers.

We’ve achieved a few minor victories in the potty training wars. And I, personally, have learned to stress less over our slow progress and rejoice in those small victories. (I’ve also learned to love OxyClean like I love life itself.)

We’ve gone out to dinner and received compliments from servers and fellow diners alike on how well-behaved our children are.

(I did say “well-behaved,” not “neat.”)

So who cares if I haven’t gotten to everything on my list yet? I’d say that the stuff I did is just as important as the stuff I didn’t do. Besides, I still have half the summer left to do the rest. Or at least, to add a bunch of other good stuff that I hadn’t planned on doing.