Summer, Day 1

So, this is what summer is like.

I am still home full time, and last Friday my son ‘graduated’ from kindergarten.  That means he is home full time now too .  At least this week.  Starting next week, I have him in half-day camps so that I can still use the mornings to search for work.  My daughter has half-time care for June, but after that our situation is a bit up in the air, and I’m not yet sure what July will look like.  But, after today, I think I need to get a job STAT.   Man, I love my kids, but they are exhausting!

This morning started off with a very unusual situation.  For Mother’s Day, my husband had given me a gift of a mother-daughter photo shoot.   This came about because he had a father-son photo shoot almost a year ago which turned out great.  I was really excited and had our outfits all planned out.  This photo shoot is unique because it was to resemble old-time pictures.  Not the kind where you dress up in cowboy outfits and hold guns in sepia-toned photos, but the kind that are kind of a stern old fashioned look.  I tried to get my daughter excited about it and tried to get my son to get my daughter excited about it but she would have none of it.  For two hours we traipsed around Stern Grove trying to get her to 1) stay still, 2) look at the camera and 3) either smile if Mama was smiling or look serious if Mama looked serious.   As the pictures progressed, I just became more and more miserable and it showed in the photos.   Savvy wouldn’t look at the camera unless it was to grimace and Jacob was bouncing around behind the photographer yelling “Mama! Mama! Mama!...Mama!”   [This was half hour into the miserable shoot]

“WHAT IS IT?!”

“I finished my apple!”

“Then throw it away!!!!”

“What did Jacob want?” asked Savvy

[Oh.. now she chooses to engage…]

Jacob wasn’t supposed to be part of the shoot, but once I knew he was to be joining us, I didn’t want him to feel totally left out so he got dressed up too and took a couple photos.  The best one of the day is of the two of them together.  So much for mother-daughter…

I tried bribing Savvy with snacks, with flowers, with the promise of going to a park afterwards.. but nothing worked.  Finally we called it quits.

Back home to eat lunch.  Then back out again to a park with a playground.  My intention was to wear them out so hopefully they might nap in the afternoon.  Yeah, right.  We worked out a deal that they would stay in their room and play quietly or read for one hour.  Within the first half hour they’d both come out  three times.  By 40 minutes, Savvy was downstairs sitting on my lap in front of the computer.

I currently have them parked on the couch watching a show.  I’ve been looking for work a bit online, but realizing that this is not going to be easy.  Not only will it be a challenge to find quiet time at the computer for any length of time this summer, but the house will forever be messy because we are here all the time!  I have not proven to be very effective at house cleaning since I lost my job, and I’m afraid that will only go downhill from here…

And, on top of this.. our summer weather has hit.   Where I live,  that means it is a permanent overcast sixty to seventy degree day.  I HATE having to wear coats to the park in summertime!

Okay, rant over.  I’ll give it some time.  We all need a chance to settle in. 

Here’s the photo that inspired us to do a mother-daughter shoot.  

And here's a hint of the photos we took today: