ah, summer vacation...

you will be appalled, amused and/or made jealous by this confession: jack has been staying home from summer camp (which dave keeps reminding me that we have PAID FOR) because we have all been waking up too late. every day. we sometimes don't get out of bed until 9:00! camp starts at 9:00 and ends at 1:00. monday through friday. you can see why it would be pointless to try to hurry everyone along to get there late, only to have to turn around and pick jack up a couple of hours later.

somewhere between the time we left for ireland and now, the sleeping rhythm and routine in this house has become seriously fucked up -- everyone's staying up too late, not getting timely naps, etc. i'd say that is the primary reason for jack becoming a summer camp dropout (heh), but i've come to realize that there is another very big reason i've let this happen: summer vacation is supposed to be lazy! it's supposed to be unstructured! it's supposed to be about hanging out and doing things on a whim! at least, that's how i remember summers when i was a kid. and here i am, home all day, not taking advantage of the opportunity to do nothing but hang around?? well, i'm obviously doing a lot more than just hanging around, but not having to wake up grumpy kids, feed them breakfast, pack lunch, get them dressed and in the car at breakneck speed so we aren't late?? that's totally worth all the daily tedious shit that comes with taking care of kids. and it doesn't have to be tedious! now that jack's not going to camp, we can plan trips to the zoo or the museums or grammy's house or wherever. we can camp in the backyard and make smores (this is jack's latest obsession)! see? it sucked being tied down to that camp schedule, dammit! it was wrong.

so yes, this is what summer vacation is all about: the freedom to do anything you want or nothing at all. you working stiffs, don't be too jealous -- i'm still taking care of two boys prone to hysterical whining and crying at the drop of a hat. but sleeping in til 9:00 everyday is totally worth all that.