Beginning our summer – Free association

I may have mentioned in the last few posts that this is a busy time of year for me. It’s also a fairly stressful one. I teach one section of high school seniors… the count down to graduation is crazy the last few weeks. While the students are less than willing to do anything, some of them really, REALLY need to do something. Like complete an assignment! No one wants to be the teacher telling parents that their child isn’t going to graduate, but some times you really have to wonder if that is what the kid wants to do. So, while trying to keep everyone motivated to do something, there are always a couple who really need a kick in the pants!

Meanwhile the laundry is piling up. Appointments are missed. And yesterday was the first time I cooked a meal that didn’t come out of can or a restaurant in about three weeks. Also, little blog posting as you can see… thinking was the last thing I wanted to do.

Yesterday was graduation, so it’s done. Everyone passed and no teary phone calls had to be made. For the next week, I’ll be finishing up the grading and packing up my room. Let the summer slide begin!

I did manage to register Lala and the Cuddler for swim lessons. Lala will also get dance lessons (they were $11 for the session! Rock bottom cheap! The local dance school – while a real dance school – charges $50 for a month!). I’m sure the rock bottom price is to get the kids suckered into joining one of the local dance schools, but I think I can resist temptation. Besides gymnastics will start up again in the fall.

The swim lessons are every morning! Is that normal? They’re timed just right as to make doing a few days of daycare (and giving Mommy a break) almost impossible and it’s every day! I’m not so thrilled about that – when will I mow the lawn? When will I get time to read some trashy novel? Or repaint the bathroom (decided I hate the grey)?

I also hit the library events calendar and put all the relevant things on the calendar. Free entertainment is going to be our watch word this summer. Actually, “Free!” will be our watch word… but anything “free” is usually pretty entertaining, so there you go. Our trips are planned out too – a weekend/birthday at my father’s house (hot tub!), camping with the family and another week @ my father’s house. Two kid free days @ a professional conference. First overnight stay at Grandma/Grandpa’s house. We’ll see how that goes… What do you do to prepare kids for that? I’ve found that Lala has a very hazy concept of time and preparation before 24 hours of any event tends to cause problems. I made the mistake of talking about the laryngoscope a week ahead of time, and we had freak outs every time we left the house for the week.

If we actually get warm weather, we will also hit the spray park. But that’s not something we can really plan on. FWIW, those of you sweltering elsewhere in the US, a trip to WA coast will bring much relief. Skip the lines and D*isn*y and bring a sweatshirt! We could also use the economic boost. Just sayin’ – it’s a win-win for everyone.

PS. Those large feathered flower hair things are just weird. Please stop wearing them. You know who you are.