Summer’s Here

Well, not technically. But school’s out and for most of us, especially here in America, that’s the signal for the start of summer.  At least it is for me. I imagine for people who finished school 20 years ago, don’t have kids and don’t work in any job that has anything to do with education, it might have shifted.

But my son is now home from school and my days are going to be different. On top of him being home, it also means baseball and scouts are done. That frees up most of our evenings.

As an only child he loves to have someone to play with. That usually means me. We’ve discovered some kids in the neighborhood who are in his class so, hopefully, we can find him some others to play with at least some of the time.

Beyond having my attention being sought by a bored 7 y/o just having him home also throws off my schedule. Normally, I would go for a walk after dropping him off and then sit down and work for a few hours. Then have lunch, maybe watch something, do some house work and then putter until pick up time. Now there’s not going to be any structure to our days. Just my wife coming home as a marker, everything else in flux.

And I like having structure. It’s easier to get things done when I know what my window to work is. Now, I could try and implement something. He’s old enough to be able to handle being told to go play for a few hours. He may not like it but he’s capable of doing it. But…

I also like flexibility. Some days I wouldn’t follow my normal routine and got a bunch of other things done.  It’s far easier for a kid to learn to play on his own until 11 and then I can play with him rather than, “go play for who knows how long” at random times of the day.

There’s also the problem that I want to play with him. There’s only a finite amount of time when he’s around now. Then he’ll be grown up and like me, only remembering to call once a week. Plus some days I’d rather just play video games or board games than buckle down and work.

Especially during the summer.  Growing up in Florida and now in Texas, summer is the time of lounging around and playing video games. It’s too hot and humid to go outside. You can’t even really enjoy the pool sometimes because the water is so warm and the air so humid.