Don't blink…you might miss summer

I’m confused. Is summer over already?

I read an article last week about ways to spend the second half of summer vacation, and now I’m seeing status updates and posts about kiddos who are already back at their desks.

The saying ‘if you blink, you’ll miss it’ must be true. It was mid-June, I blinked. Then it was July, I blinked again. Now, it’s August and I’m afraid to close my eyes.

We haven’t completed too many resolutions from our summer checklist (see below), but we have done a lot of the important ones, like playing and unwinding as a family. We even played and splashed in the rain, it was awesome!

While I would have liked to check off many more items, the list doesn’t gauge the success of our summer, we do. And it’s been a good one.

We’ve played in the water, visited with family, biked, walked, picnicked and went to museums. We even watched local wildlife feast on our garden goodies (current count: four tomato plants, numerous hosta plants, and dozens of berries).

So, as I sit in my fluffy socks and wait for the heat to kick on (we live north of all things warm, and our house got pretty chilly last night, so don’t judge me), I’m stuck thinking summer is ready to snatch our Sunny Gs and umbrella drinks before closing up her cabana for the year. Brr.

Before she does, I plan to make the most of whatever the days and the weather bring. After all, long summer days are best enjoyed relaxing and recharging with family and friends. Checking off resolutions is just a bonus. 

How do you plan to spend the final days/weeks of the summer season?

2014 Random Summer Resolutions

1.     Play

2.     Unwind

3.     Be silly—good, clean knock, knock jokes can get the ball rolling

4.     Hit the beach

5.     Go on a picnic

6.     Ride bikes

7.     Visit the zoo

8.     Go on family walks

9.     Paddleboat/canoeing

10.   Have a special date night dinner and concert

11.   Have a special family dinner out to celebrate summer

12.   Play in the rain and splash in the puddles

13.   Hug more

14.   Kiss more

15.   Unplug more

16.   Let the kids stay up later a few nights

17.   Sleep in late a few days

18.   Have breakfast in our jammies a few times

19.   Swim

20.   Golf

21.   Read 10 books—about a book a week until school starts. This is a big task since I’m also publishing a book soon

22.   Finish and publish the book mentioned in item above

23.   Play tag with the kids

24.   Sit outside one sunny day without mowing, weeding or yard work

25.   Run through the sprinklers

26.   Make homemade ice cream with the kids

27.   Grow fruits and veggies—we’ll have to get new tomatoes, the deer ate the ones we planted

28.   Take a real family vacation

29.   Pick colors and paint a couple rooms in serious need of ‘refreshing’

30.   Can something—jam, tomatoes, just to try it

31.   Take a class—maybe a class on how to can things

32.   Make a grown-up appetizer for dinner one night, even if my husband and I are the only ones who eat it

33.   Make a list of people to call, and call them

34.   Send handwritten letters to 5 people I know

35.   Go to a movie

36.   Camping

37.   Bonfire

38.   Try a new food

39.   Try a new drink

40.   Make snow cones

41.   Learn to flip pizza dough

42.   Make something

43.   Have more game nights

44.   Go on a nature hike

45.   See fireworks

46.   Take a drive in the country

47.   Go to a ballgame

48.   Listen to more music

49.   Frisbee

50.   Tennis

51.   Go to an arcade

52.   Drive at a track day event

53.   Plan a dream kitchen

54.   Teach the kids something fun

55.   Learn something fun

56.   Roast marshmallows

57.   Barbecue

58.   Have a party

59.   Light some sparklers (being careful not to burn holes in the tablecloth, like last time)

60.   Watch the fireflies when the sparklers go out

61.   Enjoy a starry night

62.   Find a constellation

63.   Relax and unwind

64.   Try a new slow cooker recipe. Found this post on how to make almost any recipe work in a slow cooker

65.   Water balloon toss

66.   Sing

67.   Dance

68.   Train ride

69.   Write a story for my kids

70.   Play hopscotch

71.   Sleepover

72.   All night movie fest

73.   Binge watch a new TV show

74.   Sleep outside

75.   Practice my Finn McMissile voice (right now it sounds a lot like Johnny Depp in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, seriously)

76.   Play euchre

77.   Create a family friendly outdoor obstacle course

78.   Early morning run/jog/walk

79.   Spin around until we get dizzy

80.   Head north

81.   Head south

82.   Head nowhere in particular

83.   Have a relaxing day at home

84.   Spa visit

85.   Be brave enough to find out what’s been growing in our compost bin the past five years

86.   Learn a card trick, maybe share it with the kids

87.   Clear out closets and donate stuff we don’t use

88.   Visit family and friends

89.   Show more love

90.   Practice patience

91.   Be goofy

92.   Watch a movie from our childhood with our kids

93.   Sketch a tree house or a garden

94.   Cider mill late summer

95.   Take photos, print and send some to the grandparents

96.   Watch a sunrise

97.   Watch a sunset

98.   Snuggle

99.   Smile

100. Relax

Work-life balance: The Impossible Dream?

Work-life balance. What do you think when you hear it, or read it?

Whenever I hear someone talk about work-life balance, I nod politely agreeing yes, it’s hard to come by—like finding a unicorn, under a double rainbow, with a pot of gold waiting beside it.

As Nigel Marsh says in this Ted Talk, it doesn’t have to be impossible if we take some personal control instead of letting others/employers do it for us. Discussions of things like flex time, casual Fridays and paternity leave, “only serve to mask the core issue, which is certain job and career choices are fundamentally incompatible with being meaningfully engaged on a day-to-day basis with a young family,” he says.

Wow, so we choose to work in order to pay rent or a mortgage, to put food on our table, and to hopefully, help put our kids through school. And buy cars, clothes and electronic gadgets. Yet, this work actually takes enjoyment away from some of those very things. Doesn’t it feel like we should be able to have it all—without the stress?

Marsh thinks we need to recalibrate our lives in order to strike a work-life balance that works. “We have to be responsible for setting and enforcing the boundaries that we want in our life,” Marsh says.

If you watch the video, you’ll see he makes a great point about realizing what to balance (intellectual, emotional and spiritual), and what we can actually accomplish over a certain time period—say, a day.

What’s your ideal day? If you’re not sure, make a list of your ideal day, as Marsh recommends and see what matters most. Did you put work at the top of your list? Then why spend so much time doing it? It’s time to get real about what you want and when you can accomplish your goals.

“We need to be realistic, you can’t do it all in one day,” Marsh says. It’s such a simple statement, yet so very wise. I often find myself, and others, anxious to cross off every single last thing on their To-Do list in one day. Maybe I need a To-Do List Manager. 

Marsh suggests creating a more realistic time period for reaching our ideal work-life balance. “We need to elongate the time period for which we judge the balance in our life,” he says. “But we need to elongate it without falling into the trap of I’ll have a life when I retire.” By then there may not be kids, a spouse or interests left to enjoy.

Okay, I get it. So, where do I go from here? I suggest thinking about your ideal day, or maybe a couple different ideal days. Why more than one day? Because, maybe you’re a parent craving some time to do your own thing occasionally, not every day. Plus, if you have expensive taste, but not a ton of cash, driving a Ferrari to lunch at the yacht club every day may not be realistic right now. Make a list of what you can do now, and a list of what you’d like to do, over time.

You’ve got a list, or two. What next? Do what you can, when you can. If work stresses you out, and miss family time, schedule a day, or an hour and take your kid to a museum, or the park. Marsh says even the small things matter.

What is your ideal day? Mine would involve a lot of family time, playing outdoors, reading, writing, music and food. Maybe even a ride in a Ferrari, someday.

Cloaked by K. Gibson