Welcome to MTM’s first blog. We have been encouraged to take this on by many parents and friends who say that they struggle with everyday issues and ask us to share where we are at in our efforts to meet the daily challenges of parenting.

What the summer holds

This month our family has survived the June onslaught of the culmination of the year’s activities; piano exams, school projects, fun fairs (Wednesday night as I am tucking my kids to bed: What son? I have to contribute a gift to two class-themed baskets and make a cake for the cake walk on Friday?), class field trips, dance contests, piano recitals, scout year-end banquets, band concerts, sports tournaments. (I heard one parent from the losing team let out an audible sigh of relief that they wouldn’t have to go to finals. They would finally have the rare weekend to themselves. Secretly, do we all feel we could use a little break?) Teacher appreciation tea, teachers’ gift….. The list goes on. June is also the start of summer activities, like baseball, soccer and swim club. My family organizer is so cluttered with activities this month with hardly a space to write. We are now consulting it hourly…

The kids will be finishing school this week and I haven’t planned any activities to keep them occupied during the summer. Selfishly, since I work from home, I would like to keep them at home to enjoy a good old-fashioned summer, like we used to have when we were kids. Lazy days of unstructured time, bike riding, exploring, swimming and lemonade stands. They have just discovered that 7-Eleven constitutes a bike outing with a delicious benefit at the end, A refreshing Slurpie and a worthy spot to spend their allowance. Are they safe? Helmets – check, hand signals-check, stay together – check, attention to time – check …..Faith in a higher power – check. If I can stand the worry when they are gone and not harp on the food value of their snack choices, everything should be fine. I’ll keep you posted.

Trish