Oh, summer! How I love to hate you.
I love your long lazy days and warm starlit nights.
Except when we’re frantically running from sports to camps to playdates to “memory making” in such a frenzy…and then it storms all night and we don’t sleep anyways.
I love your dreamy afternoons of sprinklers and slip n’ slides and popsicles.
Except when there are ants crawling up my leg because someone dripped popsicle on me and they leave the hose running and it floods the basement and the slip n’ slide is left out for three days and it kills all the grass in one perfect rectangle.
I love your cookouts and s’mores and fireflies under the stars.
Except when it’s so hot and muggy that I can’t breathe and I sweat through all the clothes and the smoke gags me and the marshmallows catch on fire and I swear if I get bit by One. More. Mosquito.
Summer, I love you. I love being off of school and home from my work (teacher here) and all the bright, happy days with my kiddos.
Except when they fight and they’re bored and they are intoxicated with screens and it’s too hot outside and too cold inside and we’re all too tired from those warm starlit nights that don’t even begin until 9:30pm.
I love the water. The lakes, the pools, the rivers, the waterfalls and the beach.
Except for the constant lathering of sunscreen that is never enough and the sore toes and the chafed legs and the sunburns and the exhaustion and all the hauling of all the stuff.
I love the freedom in our schedule to sleep in, to rest, to play, to adventure, and to explore.
Except when the laundry and the dishes pile up because we’re home to dirty all the things or we’re on some great adventure and NOT home to clean up all the things and when we finally do get all the things washed and sorted and put away…it’s time to mow.
I love the adventures and the vacations and the road trips and the family.
Except for the long haul and the crowded highways and bickering and decision-making and McDonald’s for every meal and miscommunications and missed turns and missed beds.
Summer, thank you.
Thank you for the memories with friends and cousins. The crafts and the science projects. The family movies and late evening walks under a rainbow sky.
Summer, thank you also for reminding me how much I love cozy blankets and hot coffee by the fireplace. How good a light jacket feels on a crisp fall morning. The thrill of the first snow. Or my immeasurable joy at the sight of the first spring flower.
Please don’t worry. I won’t love to hate you forever. Only until we’ve all got cabin fever and head colds and it’s 35 degrees and miserable and dark and rainy for days.
On that day I will write about how much I miss you. You and the fireflies and the swimming and the lazy days. On that day you will be all sweet watermelon and warm sand and squeals of children at play on endless summer nights.
On that day these exceptions will be long forgotten and all that will remain will be the delicious, fleeting memories of summertime.
