The Beauty of Summer

I wear a lot of different hats throughout the year. A mother. A teacher. A chauffeur. A cleaning lady. An interior designer. A chef. A writer. I don't have one nine-to-five job. I have a million little jobs that make up my days and fill them with both activities and meaning. I cook. I clean. I teach. I write. I read. I shop. I drive. I decorate. I do it all. And I love doing it all (usually). But it's also nice when you can finally set something aside and not do it all. And that's why I love summer.

So many things come to end with the beginning of summer. No more daily homeschooling. No more piano lessons. No more dance classes. Less chauffeuring to activities and more road trips. Less cooking and more packed lunches and dinners. Less teaching and more reading. When you spend most of your days as a homeschooling mom, summer vacation can be a much needed breath of fresh air. For a few beautiful months, we can go back to being "just Mom." Yes, we still make our kids read regularly and maybe do a math worksheet here and there, but so are most other moms. We all want to ensure that our kids don't lose all their progress during these long, lazy summer months, but I don't really need to pick up my homeschooling hat to do that. I can leave it hanging up until I'm ready to don it again in mid-August (when many southern schools start up again).

I know plenty of homeschooling moms who home-educate year-round. In many ways, it makes sense. You don't lose anything during the summer months. You have the luxury of taking time off as needed throughout the traditional school year for fun field trips, family reunions, and the occasional rest day. You might take advantage of homeschool travel deals when most kids are in school. I do love a good deal, saving money, and avoiding crowds, but I also love my summer vacation. So our family has found a happy medium between the two. We do a little bit of schoolwork in the middle of the afternoon, when the sun and the temps are at their highest. Just a little bit of math, thirty minutes of reading, and some piano practice. If we're away all day, we don't stress about it. I don't stress about it.

We are enjoying the dog days of summer. We are going to bed late and waking up late. We are spending long afternoons in the pool and sucking down an inordinate amount of ice pops. We are going to the beach, the museums, the playgrounds. But we're also doing just a little bit of schoolwork most days- to keep our minds fresh, to rest and relax with a good book, and to make our transition back to school smoother in the fall. For now, I am like most other moms out there- enjoying our summer vacation days, making sure that my kids are reading, and going easy on everyone, including myself. Because even the busiest mom deserves a summer vacation. I love wearing my homeschooling hat, but it's also a wonderful blessing to be able to take it off for a couple of months. And that's one of the many reasons I love summer.