On being excited about summer

And some honesty about how far I've let things go this school year

If you have read my post about what 2020 was like for me, it may not surprise you to know that I still have a bit of PTSD as summer approaches. In truth, ever since my kids were in any kind of structured activity during the school year (which we’ve been doing since our oldest two were 2 and 3, so over a decade), transitioning from May into the summer has been a challenge. I lean toward rigidity. Some might call it structure, but for me, it can go too far. I like things to be the same every day. This is impossible with children, but my brain still wants it. And so every summer my brain gets a big jolt of reality and I’ve mostly always hated it.

Then came 2020, the longest and worst summer ever, and things got even worse. My husband recently brought up his fond memories of watching a bunch of movies with the kids that summer, and I truly don’t remember any of it. I was apparently dissociated from reality. Things have gotten better since then, but summers with a toddler are exhausting in …