The school year officially begins for this teacher tomorrow. I am sad. I LOVED being home this summer…. and when I say ‘home’ I really mean HOME. I took it seriously to stay home as much as possible. I took pride in spending the least amount of money I could week-to-week and driving my car as little as possible. I came up with fun activities for the boys at home and I tried to make them get used to staying home and not having to ‘go, go, go.’
Did it work? Was I succesful? Mmmmm, about half the time I was. Don’t get me wrong. The boys and I stayed home way more than we ever have, I believe, than any other break from school. And I mean we stayed home…..(didn’t I already say that?) we didn’t use the car for 2-3 days in a row. Ate at home. Played at home. Rented $1 movies. (I’m only mentioning me and the boys because of course Jake had to go to work everyday). But with 110 degree temps and boys who are very active, we ventured here and there, but not far. Library reading club, occasional McDonald’s outing, groceries and errands of course. It really helped that our best little friends live two doors down, so they had playmates most days and played several baseball and football games in the yard as well as super-hero gun fights. 🙂
Why did I put forth so much effort and planning into this price-slashing venture you ask? The Jacksons are going through a humbling phase in our life. We are experiencing what the majority of middle-class Americans are. We are stay-caying, worrying about our family’s and children’s futures, buying generic, yet locally, and teaching our children the true meanings in life…. lessons to live by.
1. God is #1
2. Family is #2
3. To be happy doesn’t involve ‘buying’ anything
#3 pretty much summed up the rest of what we learned this summer. I personally enjoyed the slower pace and just being together more. So, back to the sad part… that’s why I’m sad. It’s back to the busy life of school, work, blah, blah, blah. I DO like routine though and that, for me, is the one reason I am somewhat looking forward to tomorrow…. tomorrow!! I almost forgot it is tomorrow! I change my mind, I’m not ready.
On a completely other note…. during my last attempt at fun this summer, I took the boys to the zoo (Rhett’s first time) and then the splash park in Tyler (I packed a money-saving lunch). The boys had a great time and Rhett was equally entertained. On the drive home, I asked the boys’ their favorite part of the day. They both said the new black bears. I took adorable pictures that day. One was of the three boys sitting on a bench at the zoo, Rhett petting the goats and of course cute pictures of them playing in the water; Rhett with a huge smile on his face. I have to write down these memories, because I’ll never have the pictures. I left my camera sitting on a bench at the park. I realized it while laying in bed the next morning at about 6. I drove all the way back to the park in South Tyler having a little bit of faith in the people who were there during the 6 hours of daylight that was left in the day after we left the park. NOT there, not even the memory card; which would have been a small sign of decency or guilty conscience. I had pictures on that memory card from the last 2 weeks…. not a whole lot, but still pictures I’ll never get. On my drive back home at 7 that morning, a humbling thought entered my mind immediately. I still have the memories, so do my children…. I still have my children who I can make more memories with. A friend I was talking to on the phone on my way home said, “you’ll just have to take them back to the zoo.” She was right. I’ll GET to take them back to the zoo and make more wonderful memories.
The summer of lessons…
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