Summer | Goddess in Progress

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(Second) First Day of School

By Goddess in Progress · Comments (6)· September 9th, 2011

And, with that, school is back in session.

No, really. They were totally psyched about going to school yesterday. It was standing in the pouring rain so I could take a picture that they were not as fond of. But back we went, and it was blessedly as though we had never left. Same building, same drop-off line, same classrooms, same teachers. Picked them up, and it was the same delightful chatter in the back about which kids were and were not there, and what new works they did.

And let me tell you, it was not a moment too soon. This summer, in a word, sucked.

I’m not trying to tempt fate, certainly it could have been worse. But 2011 is highly unlikely to go down as “best summer ever” here at Casa in Progress. Back in the winter, sitting under four feet of snow and forty pounds of pregnancy, I was really looking forward to summer. The relative freedom and flexibility of four-year-olds who don’t necessarily need a nap. The relative freedom and flexibility of a newborn before an actual nap schedule is necessary and she can just sleep on the go and eat wherever.

Well, not so much.

For one, it was a miscalculation on my part. By the time summer arrived, Ellie was nearly four months old and past those delightfully portable early weeks (which she spent, as we know, in the hospital, decidedly UN-portable). She was not so keen to sleep anywhere and everywhere, nor was she a fan of her carseat or the stroller. And then, there were the doctor’s appointments. OH, the appointments. In the 12 weeks since school let out for the summer, Ellie has had upwards of 25 appointments with a wide variety of service providers. Generally at least two a week, sometimes as many as four or five. And big brother and sister came to nearly every one of them.

And the thing is, they were awesome. Generally well-behaved (I did usually let them play a game on my phone or something), and I am telling you, not a single complaint about it all summer long. All of those boring waiting rooms and offices, and they were great. And yes, they did have their gymnastics and dance classes. We went to Wisconsin, we spent some time with friends. And we had a good number of picnic lunches at the playground when I could manage it. But the fact remains that we did not get out and take advantage of summer in the way that I had hoped we would.

Most of the summer felt, to me, like dragging. Dragging the big kids to Ellie’s doctor’s appointments. Dragging Ellie to the big kids’ activities. Dragging an enormous bag full of all our crap, everywhere we went. Some of that is par for the course with older kids and a new baby, I suppose. Some of it is exacerbated by Ellie’s extra needs. And I am certain that I noticed it more than any of my kids. They are all fine, I know this. They are happy, they had fun times. I’m the one bumming out about it.

At any rate, going back to school is a good thing for all of us. Good for Daniel & Rebecca, being back in a routine, back to an environment they love, getting a little mental exercise, and having some space away from each other. Good for Ellie, who finally has some chance of establishing a morning nap while her brother and sister are at school, and getting more attention from me when she’s awake. And good for me, for sure, to take a breather from the constant questions and demands of four-year-olds, a relative break in the juggling of vastly different needs, and a few hours to enjoy a quiet house and the ease of a single baby.

I’m welcoming Fall. I’m looking forward to apple picking and crisp mornings and Halloween and Thanksgiving. I will regroup, we will retool our routine, and I will find new ways to have fun with all three kids.

And next summer? I’m coming for you. We’re gonna do it up right.

Comments (6)

Categories : Infants, Preschoolers, School

Tags : summer

Antidote

By Goddess in Progress · Comments (9)· July 6th, 2009

I was going to write a kind of sad, cranky post about how I had an underwhelming Fourth of July and how it got me feeling incredibly homesick and determined to move back to Chicago sometime in the next few years. And, well, I sort of did and you can read it over at How Do You Do It? (notice the new URL!).

I was still cranky Sunday morning and into the early afternoon, despite a sunny day and a visit from Aunt R on a rare day off from the hospital. Still feeling disappointment. Nostalgia. And still emotionally and physically exhausted from our month of rain. And then, something crazy happened.

At nearly 5PM, we started talking about what to do for dinner. M knew exactly what he wanted: a roadside stand-type restaurant with fried seafood, burgers, and ice cream. Something on the ocean. He had a very clear picture in his mind of where he wanted to go. So we decided to pile into the van and try to find it.

We headed east, toward the coast. I suggested we head toward my aunt’s house in Marblehead (the one person on my side of the family who doesn’t live in the Chicago area). She lives near the water and I had vague recollections of passing restaurants and shacks on the ocean on the way to her house. We gave her a call and said we were heading her way. She said her husband and son were at the beach at the end of their street, that it was low tide, and a perfect time to come by. Off we went.

We put our feet in the sand, though the kids weren’t thrilled about the cold waves on their feet. But the sun was warm, the ocean was calm. It was awesome.

And to top it all off, my aunt pointed us toward the exact beachside shack M had seen in his mind’s eye. Fried seafood. Burgers. Onion Rings. Ice Cream. And some raspberry lime rickeys that Rebecca couldn’t get enough of.

By the time we climbed back into the car to head home, it was an almost unheard-of 7:45pm. Normally lights-out time for the toddler set in this household. But you know what? Everyone was happy. They talked and sang songs and played peekaboo the entire way home.

Got home and kids took a quick bath and were in bed shortly before 9PM, no too-late meltdowns.

It was a good day.

Comments (9)

Categories : Family, Holidays, Toddlers

Tags : 4th of July, beach, summer

Let the summer begin

By Goddess in Progress · Comments (5)· May 24th, 2009

We’re only halfway through Memorial Day weekend, but we’ve already had a bit of fun and a bit of tantruming. Both of the kids are having some rather defiant days, but hey, what can you do? We’re also enjoying the good weather. Friday was another hot day, so afternoon snack was a “special tweet!”: popsicles! What a mess.

But we were having so much fun outside that I decided dinner would be an impromptu backyard picnic. While M isn’t a huge fan of eating amongst the bugs, he humored me. Mmm, bratwurst…

There was practically uninteruppted playtime out in the yard from the time they woke up from their nap until we hauled them upstairs to the tub. Yay for nice days!

Yesterday was a cranky day, but we all survived. Today there was a threat of rain, so we decided to hit the aquarium. It was not exactly deserted, and I was ever so glad to have our membership and just skip right past the long lines. (And not feel bad about leaving quickly when meltdowns occurred.) It’s really hard to get good photos in the very low light of the indoor aquarium, but I managed a couple of good ones with the much beloved jellyfish exhibit.

And the kids enjoyed saying hello to the turtles in the first aid area.

Now they’re sleeping, I’m going to hit the sewing machine, and we’re going to hope that the threat of severe thunderstorms doesn’t ruin our afternoon barbeque plans with friends…. fingers crossed.

Comments (5)

Categories : Holidays, Out and about, Toddlers

Tags : New England Aquarium, picnic, playing outside, summer

Planning for Summer Fun

By Goddess in Progress · Comments (2)· April 4th, 2009

Hard to imagine, as I look out on the chilly rain and trees still devoid of leaves, but it’s time to start planning for the summer. A friend and I were chatting the other day, and the debate was how much to “schedule” the summer with our twin toddlers.

My knee-jerk reaction was “oh, no, I don’t want to sign up for too many things. It’s summer! We’ll be out of town too much!” Um, hi. That was my old life. I’m sure there will probably be a 2-ish week trip to Chicago. Maybe a trip with friends? But the honest truth is that, most of the summer, we’ll be right here at home. M still has to work, and we don’t have a lot of fabulously wealthy friends with summer mansions on the Cape.

And while I like the idea of having the freedom to go here or there and spend lots of unscheduled time in the sunshine and fresh air, the reality is that I think we still need some structured activities. But what?

At the moment, we’re in Music Together and gymnastics at The Little Gym. We love them both. But do we keep them over the summer, or take a break? Neither is cheap, of course. Gymnastics is pretty pricey, and I think Music Together only seems significantly better because it’s a shorter session. But the kids have a great time and seem to be learning a lot in both of those classes. That said, this isn’t the dead of winter when the classes are practically the only way we can get out of the house. We have our nice big backyard and playgrounds at our disposal, for free. Beaches, not free but not too bad. And an aquarium membership (not free, but already paid for).

What about the other SAHMs out there? Have you started planning yet? How is your summer shaping up? Moms of slightly older kids, what did you find was a good balance for the 2-year-old set in the summer?

Comments (2)

Categories : Learning/Classes, Toddlers

Tags : summer

Hot fun in the summertime

By Goddess in Progress · Comments (0)· July 7th, 2007

I always feared having a summer due date. Especially the end of summer. When we talked about getting pregnant, I thought I’d want to avoid having my 3rd trimester in height of the summer, no matter what.

As we know, we make plans and God laughs. So, here I am. July. 32 weeks pregnant with twins. My “due date” (such that it is) is August 31st. Riiight.

It’s not that I dislike summer. I mean really, who could hate summer? It’s sunny, warm, cheery, relaxed, and filled with grilled meat and popsicles. These are all good things. But in all honesty, I just don’t deal well with the heat. Never have. For one thing, I sweat. Can’t help it. Deodorant can only go so far. And a characteristic inherited from my mom’s whole family is the sweaty upper lip. As soon as it gets warm, we’re all a little damp under the nose. What can you do? In short, as nice as the warmth is, I get pretty uncomfortable in heat over the mid-80s. My dad loves the 110-degree days in Palm Springs, but not me. So, naturally, I thought the prospect of having all of this extra weight and discomfort during the hottest time of year sounded like a death sentence.

And frankly, the three 90+ degree days we’ve had here in Massachusetts have been particularly rough. I leave the air-conditioned splendor of my office, and within 45 minutes of arriving home, I have completely wilted. Any remaining drop of energy has been sucked right out of me. I climb up to our room (where our a/c unit resides, thankfully) and call it an early bedtime. We’ve got two more of those days coming tomorrow and Monday, and I’m not looking forward to it.

That said, I have discovered that there are, indeed, several positive things about being super-pregnant in the middle of the summer. As I’m trying to look on the bright side, here they are:

Work schedule – This has worked out more perfectly than I could have predicted. Since I work in higher education, you’d think it would be ideal to have a due date around graduation and just be gone the whole summer (which is what would have happened if my last pregnancy had worked out). There are a few problems with that logic, though. For one, since I’m not really planning on going back to work, this would have put my coworkers in the very difficult position of suddenly scrambling to hire someone at the busiest time of year. The fact that I’m guaranteed to be out for the majority of the fall semester just makes planning that much easier. PLUS, since work is extremely quiet in the summer, it’s a good time of year to have limited productivity. As I’m finding myself easily distracted and frequently tired, it’s good that I don’t have too many important things going on (like, say, graduation).
Maternity Clothes – This ties into my job, to an extent, since I work in a very casual environment. But it’s pretty nice to be able to spend most days in shorts or a skirt and some variety of t-shirt. I can also get away with frequent wearings, since summer is inherently more casual. I don’t need a bunch of dress pants, button down shirts, or sweaters. Not to mention an actual warm jacket. No, by the time I started to outgrow my fleece jacket, the temperatures were cooperating as well. I love that the maternity clothes I need are light, easy, and pretty darn inexpensive. Oh, and I wear flip-flops every day. Which is good, since they’re the only shoes that fit.
Food – Normally, I love too cook almost every night. As you might imagine, however, that has fallen off dramatically as the pregnancy progresses. I just don’t have the energy, after I get home, to do all of that chopping and prepping and maintenance. And while that’s really too bad in some ways, it’s at least easier to get away with in the summer. We do get takeout a bit too frequently, but because it’s nice out, we manage to just throw things on the grill more nights than not. This is good on all fronts. Certainly, food prep is pretty easy. Maybe make some hamburger patties or a quick marinade, but mostly you take the piece of meat and put it over the fire. This also helps by creating minimal cleanup after the fact, which is always a plus, as well as keeps the kitchen relatively cool since we aren’t turning on the oven as often. Yep, most nights at our house involve hamburgers, chicken thighs, or bratwurst. And maybe some nice, fresh corn. Not too shabby. Also nice that there are plenty of tasty fruits in season.
Ice cream – Yes, it gets it’s own listing, separate from just plain food. I’m a big ice cream fan, all year round. But when summer nears, I bust out my Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker at least once a week. Why? One word: strawberries. There is nothing quite so divine as homemade fresh strawberry ice cream. Strawberries, lemon juice, sugar, milk, and cream. That’s it. YUM. I’ve also branched out and made peach, chocolate (which was tricky, but I’ve got it down), and my new favorite: chocolate banana. Fresh ice cream is the best. Easy to make, ridiculously tasty… and calcium! I swear, I’m supposed to have more calcium!

So yes, the heat drains what little energy I have remaining, and helps my feet reach new and terrifying dimensions. But I’m learning it’s not all bad. There are definite perks to being pregnant in the summer.

Comments (0)

Categories : Cooking, Pregnancy, Working

Tags : discomfort, heat, ice cream, maternity clothes, summer