I Love the Joys Which Come With Summer!The mother in me loves the joys which come with Summer. The children are able to sleep in late. The mother is able to sit in the quiet of the early morning and rest in peace knowing her babies are all nestled in their beds. The “Ladder” is holding down the fort and maintaining safety while blessing the quiet time of wife and mother.
The joyfulness of summertime reminds me of perpetual Sunday mornings and those who know me know how much I love my Sunday mornings!
And, with each Summer, I am able to reflect on those summer’s past and smile…
Summer, over the years, has brought with it so many “puddle-licious” fun things. When my children were smallish, we would sleep in - all soft and warm and cozy in our bed. I would get up and fix my famous French toast with lots of butter and syrup and grape juice. When it was all ready, I would call the children down to the table and we would figure out what exciting adventure we would do for the day. Sweet are the memories of my barefoot children bounding down the stairs and into our kitchen/family room while the sun was rising above the trees. Their hair in crazy bed-head poses and their eyes still trying to wake up from their dreams. Morning brought with it much laughter and frolicking at our home when my children were young.
“What are we going to do today?” was the big question.
“What do you want to do?” was my reply.
“I want to build a fort. I want to go to the “pond” (a duck pond down the road), I want to swing in the tree swing. I want to have Grant over to play. I want to swing upside down on the swing. I want to go to the park. I want to have a picnic. I want to go to the movies. I want to set up the basketball. I want to play Barbies. I want to go get an ice cream cone. I want to ride my bike. I want to go fishing. I want to go swimming. I want to explore the attic. Can we go to McDonalds? Can we go visit Grammy and Poppy? Can we go to the ball park? Let’s play with our water guns. Let’s sit on the roof. Let’s climb to the top of the tree out back.”
I want to….Can we…Let’s were frequent sentence starts at our home during summertime. Precious, precious words.
It was a common thing for me to get caught up in their dream-list and I confess up front to being an adventurous mother, saying yes to many of their wishes.
Can we bring our outdoor castle inside the family room? Yes
Can we have over ten kids to play with on the same day? Yes
Can we eat pizza for breakfast and cereal for dinner? Yes
Can I wear my “play dresses and jewelry” to church? Yes
Can we eat popsicles on the porch? Yes
Can we buy ice cream from the ice cream truck? Yes Can you loan me the money to do so? Yes
Can we make forts with your family quilts? Yes
Can we? Yes
Can we? Yes
Can we? Yes
Summer brought with it many yes-es and it made for a joyful season in my and my children’s lives.
You were permitted not to make your bed every day during Summer. You were allowed to walk outside in your bare feet and pajamas. Dinner could be eaten outside on the picnic table. Canning jars could be used to collect lightening bugs. Rocks could be pushed aside to locate nefarious bugs.
Lest you think our home was total mayhem, I share that I ran our home in a pretty tidy, organized fashion when my children were small. Once they hit kindergarten, they were home-schooled in the summer (well, except for Friday’s). We took 30 minutes each day to do Mequon Math, read, and work on our hand-writing. Our dining table became our school desk and sweet are the memories I have of excited children sitting in chairs pulled up to our table working on their “summer” assignments.
We worked on etiquette…writing thank you notes to family members, sending notes to those at church who were sick. We memorized poetry and read out loud to one another.
And, we talked and dreamed and drew close to one another in a way only done when you are young and innocent and free.
Sometimes, when I close my eyes at night and reflect on those sweet times, I can still see their little feet dangling from those tall, dining room chairs, see their chocolate embraced faces and hear their sweet little lilting laughter and giggles. Melts my mother’s heart.
And, then they grew.
As my children grew into school aged children, our summers became more purposeful. They grew more opinionated about how late they should get to stay up at night, how far around the neighborhood they should be able to ride their bikes and how late they should get to sleep in in the mornings. They began to have more say in how their days were spent and it generally made for great fun.
They still enjoyed a good bout with nature and we began making serious trips to visit their grandparents. Every summer when my children were young, we would go to my parents for a few days of fishing, rolling in the grass and dipping into the pond. My daddy put the first rifle in each of my children’s (and two nieces/cousins’) hands teaching them the right way to fire a weapon. Going to Grammy and Poppy’s house was an adventure like no other. Their home was old and smelled like wood and stone and summer fun. Their yard was a virtual playground for lightning bugs and cook outs and yelling at the top of your lungs.
Cousins Emily and Kelsey were around the same age and lived close by so they would join in on the Summer fun at Grammy and Poppy’s. In fact, a sweet tradition was started. Once every summer, we met and “traded.” One summer, we would meet them “half way” between our home and theirs and my children would go with their cousins to their home for a few days. The next year, we would meet at the same, country convenient store and they would come back with us to our home. We have many sweet photos of these “swaps” over the years. Precious, cousin-fun at its best.
As my children grew older, we added sports to the summer mix. I won’t digress here, but suffice it to say that in our family the rule was, “you were going to be an athlete. You will either be a good athlete or a bad athlete, but you are going to be an athlete”. And, while there are things about this season of our lives I would most certainly do differently, I will say that there is a purpose and reason to play organized sports and our family played! A lot.
Later, as my children became middle schoolers, summer was all about the friends. Friends stayed over most weekends, friends ate over most days, friends played over most evenings. I was one of a few stay-at-home mothers on our street and we began to understand the need for organized play. Cheryl Zimmerman and her children became near and dear to our summer-time lives and zoo time, free summer movie flicks and trips to the community pool were staples to our days. Our boys climbed trees and built forts and played night ball tag. Years of four square and monkey in the middle were played in our driveway circle. Most amusing to me were the games the kids would make up and then fight over because someone broke the rules. Break the rules of a made-up game? Absolutely! Cheryl and I tried to let them work it out and watched as they forged their friendships. And, because we were able to do that, she and I grew close and our children did as well. There was no side-taking or judging. We treated one another’s children as our own. And, they were.
I will never forget our first summer in Georgetown…my boys and Cheryl’s son decided to have a water balloon fight. Thus, the need to fill up hundreds of water balloons. And, they did just that. All over my brand new, freshly painted bathroom! Needless to say, they were grounded for a long time from having water balloon fights (well, at least for that day).
We hiked together and swam together and swung together. We at peanut butter sandwiches and hot dogs and hamburgers. We made s'mores and got sticky and had fun.
We collected bugs in jars and then in store-bought bug catchers. We had bug nets and worm containers. We found birds and snakes and stray animals.
It was a magical season of our lives and we were blessed to share it with such wonderful families, but especially the Zimmerman’s!
Now, as I write this and reflect on our summers with teenagers and young adults, it is a very different season in life. Yes, they still love staying up late watching TV and movies and sleeping in late the next morning. Yes, they still don’t make their beds very often and can be found walking outside in their bare feet and pajamas (well…their shorts and t-shirts). Yes, they still love a good popsicle, the fridge door is never closed because they are forever scrounging for food and they still enjoy a good bon fire with friends.
But, it is different.
Summers now are different.
For a while, I was a little sad with the difference. It is more quiet even when they are all at home. It is more serious because now they each work jobs and have to negotiate with one another on who can drive the car. Now, they rather spend time with their girlfriends and friends than with me. Well, at least it feels that way at timesJ even though they say this is not true.
But, I am learning to appreciate these summer moments.
I am learning to try to be up and “present” when my daughter, Madison, comes in at 7 am from work so we can share a few mother-daughter moments. I am enjoying hearing about her job and realizing how she truly does help her patients with her kind and compassionate heart. We discuss many many sweet intimate things which only a mother and daughter would understand. She is becoming a woman, right here at my kitchen table with the sunlight shining through her hair reflecting and making her look like an angel. My daughter – child – woman – angel.
I find it a precious sight when my son, Kenton, breezes in the front door post work from McDonalds with a cup of unsweet tea and a straw for me. Every night since he has worked at McDonald’s, almost without fail, he has brought me a tea….just because. Joy is felt when he comes through that door and sweetness and light and smiles. Kenton is my more reserved child, so I do ask him questions which he generally is kind to answer. At times, he will join me at our kitchen table or on the deck or in the yard and we will just talk. While he chooses his words (most times) carefully, those he does share are generally seasoned with gentleness and logic and reason. My son – man to be – gift.
I love it my son Johnson comes home from baseball practice and paces around the kitchen talking to me while I work at the kitchen table. Johnson is a child who enjoys a good conversation and I have learned that if I just sit and be quite and let him speak, I will learn many things about his heart. I have been privileged to share in his worries, his fears and his frustrations during times such as these. I have been humbled to witness his heart, his compassion and his love during our post-practice conversations. Johnson and I have some pretty deep conversations while he “dougies” around our family room, and he even lets me join in on occasion. My son- child – man to be – treasure.
So, I am learning that while our summer time fun is waaayyy different that it was twenty two and seventeen years ago, it is still just as precious….just as magical….just as precious.
Of all the gifts God has blessed me with, time with my children is one I consider my greatest.
What they are is…
Mine.
Gifts loaned to me by God to love, nurture, grow and develop. Treasures to enjoy and be blessed by.
And, they do not disappoint.
And, while I am tempted to put a caveat (a word or expression of caution) about all I have written here so that anyone reading this will understand that I understand we are far from perfect, I choose not to….just this once….
It’s summer at the Young-McKenzie home….where “love lives” and for the season, we are going to reflect on things positive, and sweet, and precious. We are going to throw open our windows and sing to the air…we are going to watch movies, visit with friends, go to church and frolic. We are going to visit the lake, and swim in the pool and dance in the kitchen. We are going to visit our grandparents and spend time with our friends and play games in the yard.
We will serve others at centers of Hope and Houses of Amen and read books with our siblings (starting with summer reading, The Invisible Man). We will drive our vehicles with the windows down and the wind blowing in our hair, we will play our music hopefully not too loud and we will make S'mores.
We will be…and enjoy…and laugh….and play…
And, in so-doing, it is my mother’s hope that we will grow bonds stronger, deeper, and wider which will enable us to reflect the “son’s” glory all the rest of the year…..
For, at the end of the summer….at the end of the day…that is all which really matters…
Summer’s Sweet Blessings,
Lesa
