Summertime Memories

I have a love-hate relationship with summer.  I love flip flops, ice cream, swimming, the smell of freshly cut grass, suntan lotion, lemonade, and cookouts. I hate mosquito bites, humidity, sweating, sunburns, and the pressure I feel to find my kids something to do everyday to keep them out of my hair until it is time to go back to school. I see all the pins on Pinterest suggesting "101 Things To Do This Summer With Your Kids," and while I pin them to my "Perfect Mom" board, the likelihood of my actually opening the link and reading the article is slim-very slim.  (My "Mother of the Year" crown is on back order.)

I don't know about you, but I put a lot of pressure on myself to make these "Hallmark Moment" family vacations for our kids and in reality, no matter how hard I plan, those vacations never turn out like I had pictured it in my mind. 

The truth is that when I reflect on the those summer memories of my own childhood, it is the simple things that were often unplanned and completely part of the fabric of our everyday lives that stand out most to me.  I grew up living in the same town as a lot of my cousins and both sets of grandparents.  In the summer, it was not uncommon to find us all at my grandparents house.  My Mamaw and Papaw lived in the same house for over 50 years.  It was this tiny little buttery yellow house that set on the edge of the Morehead State University campus.  Although our family took lots of fun vacations, it was sitting under the big tree in my grandparents front yard with my Papaw Bill,  digging holes in the dirt with my Mamaw's kitchen spoons with my cousins that I remember the best!  We used to have dance parties (no music needed) in that front yard and when cars would pass we would all freeze in some "cool" pose.  Those are the things that didn't cost a penny, and  looking back, I wouldn't trade for any amount of money!

Moments like these are often hard to manufacture, but they mean so much!  In "Orange" terms, we call this CREATING A RHYTHM. One thing every kid really needs is memorable moments with their families and if we are all being honest, that costs us very little money and in the long run is something money can't by. As we enter this summer, I am challenged to slow down, and take time to enjoy simple moments with my kids, as I suspect it will be in those moments that we make the most memories.