DeLappenings: A Summer Launch Redirect

Okay, peeps.

We're about to wrap Week 2 of Summer, but I'm on a time delay (shocker), so let's rewind a bit to discuss the launch of things--and our vibe, in general.

Every dang year, I head into summer with printed schedules of the kiddos'/our family's camps, activities, appointments and excursions, color-coded by week.

And every dang year, that color-coded schedule gets a little more daunting!

Fewer "free" weeks.

More "unscheduled" social hangs and events.

And major school "creep," meaning later summer launches and earlier fall returns (for fine arts and such).

It's a whole vibe.

Plus...I'm not gonna lie: it takes more and more out of me, every year, to handle the whiplash of toggling between the massive change of having the kids in school and then out--not to mention, the toggling of week-by-week changes for the entirety of June and July.

No two weeks are the same.

And sometimes, it makes me this Type A Mama want to scream into a pillow.

THAT SAID.

Last summer felt like a bit of a low point for me, emotionally.

I think I spent more of it frazzled and trying to counteract or boycott all these changes, and less time sitting back and enjoying the pockets of disarray and unexpected adventures.

So this summer, I'm determined to LET IT GO (as Elsa would say).

With every age and stage of my kiddos' development, there seems to be a year when I fight some kind of new or different something-or-other. It takes me a hot sec to catch up and accept the things I cannot change. To level up, so to speak. But as soon as I do, things get so much better.

Luckily, I'm in the breezing easier stage at the moment (though I'm terrified, even as I type this, that we're about to hit a new level/new devil, with Chica's launch of High School in August). I'm just going with the flow. Leaning into the chaos. And doing my level best to accept the total insanity of summer and focus on the blessings and not the angst.

Case in point:

One of our only true "free" weeks each summer is literally Week 1. And I always try to plan a few little outings or adventures for us to reconnect and spend some time doing something out of the ordinary.

We had grand plans for a trek out to Enchanted Rock State Park (something we haven't done since the pandemic!), a visit to the drive-through zoo, and a visit to this planet/universe art installation.

And did we do any of these things????

No. We did not.

Apparently, we made plans and God laughed.

Chicklet was struck down with this ick/cough/congestion that terrorized a bunch of kids in the homestretch of the school year, and she was just down and out.

Even after a doctor's visit a week into the gunk, not to mention lots of prescription meds, it took her two full weeks to be a functioning human again.

So we had to scrap all plans and just hunker down (and tackle some odds and end for the other kiddos as time allowed so that the week wasn't a total loss).

In the end, it was actually kind of....nice?

(Not for Chicklet, of course).

Forced time at home. Slow schedules. Fewer to-dos. I think it was exactly what the doctor ordered (if you bypass the fact that the doctor actually ordered cough medicine, ha).

In fact, I had one of the best moments, EVER IN THE WHOLE WORLD, when we gathered for an afternoon viewing of some of the Baking Championship show that we love.

Chicklet snuggled into me (I die), and within a few minutes, she grew still, her breathing leveled out, and...yup. She fell asleep. Nuzzled into me like her human mattress--and eventual human pillow.

And you better bet I took a million creepy Mama pics to commemorate the gloriousness.

I didn't move a muscle for the entirety of the show. And when it ended and Chicklet still hadn't roused, I stayed put (even when I very much needed to use the little girls' room).

Eventually, Coda pup barked at a delivery and Chicklet roused--then promptly repositioned herself in a sitting position...where she fell asleep, again. With Coda and I both keeping watch.

God was basically telling us all week to chill the fudge out, and just BE.

And, in the end, despite all our grand plans of adventure and color-coded schedules, the thing we needed is the thing we got: forced down time.

Throughout the week, the kiddos spent time indulging in things they enjoy, like binge-watching TV, drawing, FaceTiming with friends, playing basketball in the driveway, and just vegging on their iPads. It was a lot of mushy, non-productive, brain-wasted time, and it was perfect.