Happy Birthday to Katie and Brian, my “little” sister and brother! I hope you both have a wonderful day with your families!
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It’s been quite the week around here. Last Friday night we dodged storms (and saw a great rainbow) on the way down to Corpus Christi for the Memorial Day weekend. It was a fun trip, made slightly more relaxing than usual since we didn’t need to come home until Monday thanks to the holiday. On Saturday we hung out with Jose’s mom before heading to a birthday party in Odem (about 20 minutes away) for 3 of Emma and Charlotte’s second cousins. (In other words, Jose’s cousin’s kids.) On Sunday we went to the pool, and when the pool closed, we migrated to the small above-ground pool in another cousin’s backyard! It was about 2 feet deep and actually pretty perfect for the kids. We also got to see our nephew/cousin AJ who is so (obviously) much bigger than he was at Thanksgiving!
The trip back on Monday was uneventful except for getting stuck at a dead stop for 30 minutes due to a wreck. That’s the second time in as many trips that we’ve had that kind of delay! It’s so frustrating…but I’m also glad that we stayed safe and sound.
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Emma had her kindergarten graduation ceremony on Tuesday and yesterday was the last day of school. She is officially DONE with kindergarten! Only 12 more years to go…and then college…and then maybe grad school…ha! She’s home with me today and we plan to have some mother-daughter fun. I promised her a trip to the pool, and I’m trying to convince her to get a pedicure with me.
She’ll head back to her old school (the NASA childcare center) on Monday, and to be honest, I’ve been feeling a little sad about that. When I was a kid, I remember the last day of school being such a big deal because it kicked off 2+ months of not having to go to school, spending days at the pool, hanging out around the house, going to the park, and more. For Emma, it will just mean…well, not going to school, but still going to some form of care.
It is what it is — I can’t really do much about it short of quit my job, and that’s not happening — but it’s had me feeling a bit introspective this week, and thinking about my own childhood compared to the one my kids are having. I don’t think one is better or worse, but they will be different for sure.
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Miscellaneous stuff:
I’ve been wanting to do another day-in-the-life post for weeks now, but it hasn’t happened yet. Maybe next week?
Yesterday on a whim, I entered my Geometry of Circles quilt in the International Quilt Association’s yearly competition in the “Applique, Small” category. If it gets in, it’d be on display at the International Quilt Festival in Houston this fall, and I do think the quilt would fit into the show aesthetically based on what I’ve seen there in the past. But Quilt Festival also features some of the best quilters in the whole world so getting in is a huuuuuuge long shot. I have extremely low (i.e. zero) expectations, but you never know!
Charlotte has slept fine on a cot on our last couple trips, so I’ve given some thought to converting her crib to a toddler bed. (Emma had been in the toddler bed for months by this age.) But if we convert it, we’d need to install a gate at the top of the stairs, and I hate dealing with baby gates so maybe she can just stay in her crib! Heh.
I’m running a nearby 10K on Sunday morning. It’s going to be hot, which will make it somewhat of a slog. I’m planning to take it easy and expect to finish around the 1:20 mark. That sounds so slow, but then I remind myself that I’m not worrying about pace these days.
When Emma is a bit older you can fill her summer with fun camps so its not like going to school year round. Near us growing up there was a Breezy Point day camp. The kids used to come swim at our pool club 3-4 days a week for a few hours. I remember how jealous I was of all their activities, ribbons, and badges they got for a summer of outdoor fun. I mean I played with my friends and spend a lot of time at the pool over the summer. But there are other ways kids can have fun while in summer care. When she’s older, there’s sleep away camp too. My sister goes to this amazing one in Canada, its just like I picture the camp from Parent Trap (har har). its very undirected fun, the girls kind of roam the camp and do what they want from canoeing to playing dress up and putting on shows, and there are organized classes for things like horseback riding and swimming … ://campoconto.com/
Yeah, I’ve thought about that — doing several different types of camps and care will help make things seem fun and different in future summers. I also was thinking that I’ll always plan on taking at least 1 week off in the summer, and even if we don’t go out of town we could have a “staycation!”
I mean summer will always be different in Houston. In Philadelphia we lived outside all summer mostly at the pool and mostly in bare feet. That’s probably an unbearable way to spend a Houston summer.
You could hire a nanny for the summer. This is one reason why I use a nanny – because I want my kids to have the type of experience I did, but I’m not willing to quit my job.
Of course, I’m sure the NASA center is great. If I had convenient access to that standard of daycare center, I would probably use it instead of a nanny, plus there are other factors for us, like H working from home.
I think nannies are more uncommon around here, since daycare is a bit more affordable than in your area. We’ve never seriously discussed one, partially because of the abundant daycare options (and of course the uber convenient NASA option).