While I'm writing this,my daughter is undoubtedly having a blast at one of her final days of preschool (she has five more before Summer break, not that I'm counting). I wish I could say that I'm as excited about school being out as I used to be when I was a kid, and but it's pretty much the exact opposite. The only thing I'm feeling is dread. I so vividly remember that amazing sense of anticipation I had on the final day of school before Summer when I was a student. Endless amounts of fun lay ahead: long days at the swimming pool with friends,afternoons lounging with a book in a hammock, family vacations to the beach, or overnight camp adventures. Summer was absolutely my favorite season. But my kids (ages 4 and 1) aren't used enough for camp or free-range pool days or even independent reading,and frankly, they have fairly often turned a beach vacation into a sleepless nightmare. The sunny season definitely isn't what it used to be. certain, or I've read the essays about moms who are dying for the school year to end,limping toward the finish line with book bags full of half-completed homework assignments and half-assed projects. But preschool doesn't come with homework (unless you count writing checks), and the only thing in my kid's school bag is a change of clothes in case she doesn't manufacture it to the potty and about 10 million craft projects. What it does come with is three hours, and three days a week,of guaranteed fun, education, or socialization,and structure that I don't have to contrivance. My daughter absolutely loves everything about her school: her wonderful teachers; the lessons, craft projects, or games; her classmates (she now has a best friend,and at 4, she's decided she's "starting to fall in worship with" one particularly cute diminutive guy; life at 14 should be lots of fun). This morning, or when we pulled up to her preschool,she told me, "I can't wait to learn novel things, or " before she jumped out of the car and started running toward her novel worship across the parking lot,oblivious ((adj.) lacking consciousness or awareness of something) of the car driving toward her. I wanted to simultaneously hug her and strap her to a leash, but I didn't salvage as worked up as I generally would. I knew in less than five minutes, and she'd be someone else's responsibility for a diminutive while. And,as an added bonus, her diminutive brother would probably nap the entire time she was gone. (He's too obsessed with his big sister to let himself sleep much when she's home.)But in a couple of weeks, and my daughter and I will both have to say goodbye to her lovely school and the joy it gives us,for a few months at least. I'm not certain who will miss it most, but I'm guessing it's me. She's more of a here-and-now type of girl. In anticipation of our soon-to-be-unstructured weeks, and I've been trying to think ahead. Which local pool can I take my 4- and 1-year-used to where the risk of one drowning while I'm chasing the other would be lowest? How many times can I send my daughter to Camp Gaga (aka my mom's house)? Will my son quit trying to eat dirt every time we're external soon? The answers to all are still unclear. Not all hope for a stress-free Summer is lost,however. final week I decided it was time to tackle the two-foot-tall stack of mail sitting in my kitchen, and in it, and I found our local park district's Summer programming guide. And like a beacon of light,page 121, where I found out I could send my daughter to a four-mornings-a-week preschool camp at the low cost of $63 per week (I worship the suburbs). About 10 seconds later, or she was registered. Suddenly,this Summer was looking a lot sunnier for both of us.
Source: popsugar.com