As I fold the freshly laundered back to school clothes, I think that I might as well clear out the drawers and trade out the summer clothes for fall. And then I realize IT’S STILL SUMMER! Those cute fall dresses, vests, long-sleeved shirts, boots and pants are not going to be ready for school for at least two more months. Yet here we are, entering the third week of school in the middle of August, whether or not our clothes agree.
The cycle seems to repeat itself each summer.
We begin every summer with great intentions. We sort out our ideas as we make a list of fun things we want to do, and then we run a delicate cycle, taking a few slow weeks to find our groove. Before we know it, we’re on the heavy duty spin cycle. Camps start. Summer sports, birthday parties, and BBQs fill our days. And suddenly, somewhere mixed in your load of summer bliss, back to school ads start popping up. You reluctantly start prepping for the new school year, but naively think you still have plenty more time.
I’ve spent the majority of my life in school (either as a student or teacher)… and doing laundry. Yet neither schools nor laundry cease to amaze me. How can I never keep up with all of the laundry? How can school be starting so soon? To where did that missing sock disappear? Where did our summer go?
It seems that as soon as you begin washing out the summer-stained clothing, the machine beeps and suddenly you are in for a heavy duty cycle of panic. At once, that exciting list of things to do is no longer fun at all. It is now a to-do list churning over in your mind. We’ve had plenty of fun, but now we’ve got to hit the splash pad, the water park, the other area pools, the beach, go boating, go to the zoo, have that playdate, take those trips, etc. I have yet to fit in the kids bowl free program or the $1 movies. It’s going be a quick wash, things may get ugly, but that summer load WILL be washed, dried, folded, AND put away.
We stress ourselves out trying to fit in all of the last-minute fun, and then we start the school year completely wrung out. We plunge into the new schedule, the new routine, the fall sports (which also start in August), and we never really quite feel caught up. Like that ever growing laundry pile.
There’s no time to refresh, and unfortunately these wrinkles just won’t go away. We’re spinning straight towards the sanitize cycle season and will remain there until it is time to wash, rinse, and repeat.
I wish I could say that next year we will just do absolutely nothing all summer, go where the wind will take us, and kick the bucket list. But I know myself. I’ll feel as if I’ve hung my kids out to dry if we don’t hit up certain experiences. So instead I’m going to front-load summer. We’re going to kick that list’s bucket (while making it fun and fresh and exciting) and then we will have the remainder of the summer (I’m guessing until the end of July next year?!) to either re-visit the favorites, or just lay low and truly appreciate a nice delicate cycle.
Wash, rinse, repeat. Breathe.
