The End of Summer

Sunday, August 31, 2008
Huh? What? Where did it go? Summer, I mean. The lazy days where I was going to read books and watch my beautiful blond child run around in the sun. Where my baby would sleep peacefully beside me as I sat in a chair and drank iced tea. And read books.
Apparently, those days disappeared under mountains of laundry, a doctoral dissertation gnawing at my brain, and endless grocery shopping and cleaning. Oh, plus 2 children who didn't seem to want to play their appointed roles in my little summer plans. The beautiful blond child is tanned and blond from 3 months in the pool--but I watched him the whole time. And the peaceful baby? Well, she has opinions and needs, and they don't include Mommy reading.
But still... this was one of the best summers of my life. Watching Jake go from early June and barely putting his face in the water to late August and seeing him swim the whole way across the pool with his snorkeling gear on. Seeing Phoebe grow and develop a personality that is so like me and yet so uniquely her own. Seeing the two of them develop a bond, a sibling relationship that is growing stronger with each laugh, each hug, each kiss, each hair pull. Watching in wonderment at these two beings I actually conceived and birthed.
Yes, the best summer of my life. Except for the laundry.