We’re going to have a summer with no label.
It won’t be an ‘80s summer or a summer with a bucket list.
It won’t be a screen-free summer or a carefree summer.
You know why?
Because every year, I enter summer with these high hopes.
We’re going to do all of the things.
Then, when summer is coming to a close, I’m disappointed in myself. Even if we did some of the things—or even most of the things—it’s near impossible to do all of the things. And if we didn’t do all of the things, I feel that mommy guilt creeping in on me.
So I’m going into this summer with no label. No expectations. No guilt.
Sure, we’ll have some days of picnics or the pool.
But we’ll also have days where we have too much screen time.
And we’ll have some days where we play outside all day—getting dirty and playing in the water.
But we’ll have to have some days where we stay inside and clean (because the house gets 639x messier when everyone’s home. It’s a fact.).
I’m sure we’ll have fires with roasted hot dogs followed by S’mores.
But we’ll also have days overtaken by grocery shopping and boring errands.
They’ll climb trees, ride bikes, play video games, and fight (which may be their favorite pastime of all).
The kids will eat all of the food, use all of the Band-Aids, and re-charge all of the electronics.
It’s not a summer from the past or a Pinterest-perfect summer. It’s just us, together.
Whatever we end up doing will be just fine with me.
No label.
No expectations.
No guilt.
This post originally appeared on Racing Elephants by Steph
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