Wishing Summer Would End

I wish summer would end! I know what you are thinking, is this woman nuts? Well, yes, yes I am! Having my two cute but tiresome kids at home all to myself all summer is exhausting! Oh and the heat....holy cannoli!

Living here in Canada, where we have long cold winters, all I can do is whine about how freaking cold it is outside and how I long for warm summer days. But my love affair with the summer season comes to a bitter end usually by the time the first heat wave hits! Sadly, this summer has been nothing but a heat wave!

Like much of North America this has been one heck of a hot and humid summer so far. Nearly everyday is 29 or 30 then you factor in the humidity and you are close to 40! Humidity is not my friend! I am one of those gals who had the kind of  hair that looks like I stuck my tongue in a light socket while holding a fork into another socket at the same time. My poor daughter is also cursed with humidity hating hair. Then there is that almost oppressive air that comes with hot humid days, you know the days where a person with pretty good lungs even struggles to breath.

Bitching about the heat, humidity, dying grass and plants aside, I have also run out of ideas for entertaining my kids. I used up just about every activity and excursion in my arsenal. I even went camping and to Myrtle Beach! Two trips I really never wanted to do! If I had my way I would be sitting somewhere in the Amalfi Coast sipping Limoncello and watching attractive Italian men walk by.

As the final weeks of the kids summer vacation are coming to an end, I find that bit of excitement bubbling up inside me again. I no longer feel like a burnt out old hag who has seen way too many years. I feel somewhat rejuvenated! I started back to school shopping! While the cheap money pincher in me wants to save money, the trapped Mom in me wants to get all the things the kids need to go back to school. Never before has a pencil case looked so darned appealing! The smell of crayons is intoxicating, the sad look on my eldest childs face as he realizes that his summer fun is drawing to an end is priceless!!! Cruel, nah, just happy. I am happy to finally get a little bit of myself back when September arrives. Do I want cold weather, hell no! But I surely do not want to live in Hades either. I am a fall girl! I love the autumn. The cooler air, colors of the trees, pumpkins and the harvest...all of it. Bring on Autumn!!!

Summer School In Session

It is that time of year again where I am over joyed to have my babies home with me for 2 months. Of course that joy very quickly subsides to merely happy to see their dirty faces to down right annoyance by the middle of the first month!

One of the most difficult things a stay at home parent can do is try to entertain their children for the summer months all while trying to maintain some independance and sanity. I assure you this is no easy feat. This is the time of year when video games and television become a parents best friend. I remember when I was a kid, my mother just shoved us out the door and we only came into eat. We did not watch t.v. all day or nag our Mom to take us to indoor playgrounds or amusement parks, that stuff just did  not exist when I was a kid. While I would love to shove them outside for the day, lets face it times  have changed. I just won't let my 7 and 5 year old kids play outside without me be right out there with them. I try my best, but there is only so much water play, sidewalk chalk, scraped knee's and bugs that this old fart can handle.

One of the other challenges that parents face during the summer with their kids is keeping them educated. It is very easy for a young child to forget many important things that they learned during the school year fresh in their minds. This summer I am spending a great deal of time on the continuing education of my kids. My son who will be going into grade 2 is now reading on his own, but he is lazy. He would rather have me sit with him and sound words out for him than do it on his own. My daughter will be going into senior kindergarten and just started early reading programs at school. So far I have taken them to the bookstore to buy several books, each for their reading level and some story books as well. I found this neat little DIY book publisher kit at Chapters. It comes complete with 2 hard cover books that the child can write their own story in and do their own illustrations. My son loves to make up his own stories so I bought two of these kits. I have gone onto several websites looking for teaching tools to share with my kids over the summer. So far my favorite site has been The Teachers Corner . My son thinks that if he is not in school that he should not have to do homework....tough, I say. Then of course he says "Well you don't learn new things, you don't go to school". You know what he is right! I have not been in school for about 15 years now! I have taken a few courses here and there, but nothing too exciting.
 

So I made a deal with my son ( or perhaps the devil) that if he read 20 new books this summer that I would also learn to try to speak Italian, something I have wanted to do for the longest time. I purchased the Rosetta Stone Totale program and like my son have started working diligently at it.  The bonus with this program is that my children are drawn to it. They like to hear the Italian words spoken and they love the photos uses in the program. It just may be that my kids will learn some Italian this summer too! My son will be rewarded with a new Wii video game, and upon my completion of  Rosetta Stone, I will be traveling to Italy next summer hopefully armed with enough Italian for small conversation!

Who says summer vacation is just about beach days, bike riding, video games and television! It can also be a great opportunity to learn something new!