On summer

**I'm sweating myself near to death at our church Girls Camp this week. That's right, no AC, and me slightly weepy and wrung out over the last month's events. I was going to write a post about summer. But as I started typing, I had the distinct impression I'd already written this exact same post. And sure enough, I had. Last summer. Apparently, I'm a one horse show.  So. . . here are my thoughts at this exact same time last summer, which happen to be remarkably close to my thoughts right this minute. Except for the no AC part. I have no words for that.

From June 6, 2012: 

Summer is always a bit of a mixed bag for me. 85% of me LOVES summer -- the loose schedule, kids running in and out, ice cream for dinner. The other 15% of me? Well, it doesn't much like the loose schedule, kids running in and out, and the lack of structure that might encourage something like, oh, say, ice cream for dinner.

When my kids were younger I tried all kinds of organizational ploys to enjoy/survive the summer. Like...at the beginning of summer I'd buy each kid their own distinctive cup. This controlled just how many cups were used (usually five jillion), plus I could always tell who was leaving their cup willy nilly all over the place. Also, we had quiet time -- just 45 minutes or so in the afternoon where people could read or rest and I could have a moment to hear myself think. I set time limitations on how late the kids could sleep in. When they had to be dressed. How much tv time. I assigned dish days. And lunch-making duties. We tried ONE FUN ACTIVITY EVERY DAY. Or the kids took turns planning meals and cooking dinners. We did arts and crafts and colored with sidewalk chalk and ate lots of snow cones.

Of course, we didn't do ALL of these things at once. I pulled them out of the arsenal on an as-needed basis. You see, even though I like to be fairly structured in my own life, I have no burning desire to structure other people's lives. That's takes effort. And nagging. And effort.

But sometimes I have to do it for family harmony, or to teach a valuable lesson, or because the kids are staying up WAY TOO LATE AND ARE GROUCHY.

This summer I thought maybe everyone was too old for my summer bag of tricks. But...we are about three days in and I've already turned off the TV 291 times. I've washed 163 glasses, each with about two inches of water in them. I've told grumpy faces to GET A HOLD OF THEMSELVES. And I've told frustrated kiddos to learn to entertain themselves without Netflix. I know. I'm SO MEAN.

I'm going to have to bite the bullet and come up with a full scale plan. I don't want to do it. But they are forcing me. Them. They are taking over. Undoubtedly.

As for me, I've got this grand plan to get to bed at a decent hour, wake up early, and write from about 6:30 - 8:30 AM. Somehow, when I write first, even just for two hours, I can be so productive. And even if the day goes terribly wrong (or terribly fun) and I don't make it back to my desk, I've still accomplished something. Also, I love the quiet house in the morning.

So far...I've been 100% successful. Three whole days in a row.

What about you? Any great ideas to add to the summer plan?