Summer Time

It is officially summer now, and I know this for several reasons. First, Evie is done with her school year, and we had a week off with no school for anyone, so we spent lots of good time at home and seeing friends and family and going to the Children's Museum and other places. It also means Evie has begun her beloved swim lessons, and she jumped right in and didn't miss a beat from last summer.

I am also done with classes and have started working part-time for most of the summer for the professor I had in my sociology class that I loved so much. The work has been the perfect amount (10 hours) and it is flexible, so I've been able to do it all from home. I'm helping her to edit some chapters in a book she's editing and also to prepare an application for a big grant she's applying for. 

How else do I know it's summer? Because it is so hot outside that I'm sure we're going to melt right into the asphalt of any parking lot we're in. Seriously, this is the time of year when I have to really think twice about running any errands with the girls because any trip in the car means standing in the sun, baking, while I wait for my insistent and independent one-year-old to clamor into her car seat all by herself and watch my dawdling, observant four-year-old notice every piece of grass or rock on the ground while she lazily makes her way to her car seat. All the while I'm trying to get the air on full blast while making sure neither of them run out and get hit by a car, and then I have to go back and forth to each side to help them strap and buckle in - which lately includes some kind of argument with one or the other. Nothing makes me yell more, lately, then feeling the intense heat and urgency of getting us all in and out of the car so that we don't all die of heat stroke. Okay, maybe it's mostly just me that feels it - they barely seem to notice the heat - but still.

Oh, one more way I know it's summer is because ELEANORA IS STARTING SCHOOL! Technically, it's summer camp, but it's through the same Montessori school Evie has been going to for the past three years. In fact, I'm sitting at Whole Foods right now trying to do something with myself while I wait for the school to (probably) call me to tell me to pick her up early. Yesterday was her first day, and she actually did great, but really just lasted an hour before they thought she was just pretty done, so they thought it would be best if I went to get her when she was still in a relatively good place. She did not throw up, I have to report, because that was one of my biggest fears. She has a sensitive gag reflex and often throws up after crying hard for a few minutes. So today we tried again, and she got her little lunch box (that looks more like a suitcase when she carries it) and walked with me and Evie into the school. And as soon as we opened the doors, she excitedly ran down the hall to her class. I gave her a quick kiss and then walked away, but stayed there. About 2 minutes later I heard her wailing. So I stayed and observed for a little while (there's a one-way window on the door), and she eventually got a little calmer and was crying on and off rather than continuously. So I talked with another teacher and the principal and we decided that was a good sign, and that I could leave and just trust that they would call me if they needed to. So I did. 

And now we're going to go on vacation tomorrow and will probably ruin any progress that was made, but oh well. It's summer, and it will be a little crazy, but we will have fun and try new things and spend some quality time together before we have to get serious about the fall again (when Evie will start pre-k...eek!).