Planned Spontaneity

"Planned Spontaneity", my oxymoron for the summer! For the first time, in their short summer vacation carreer, I made my kids a summer schedule. It's not carved in stone, we'll survive if we don't do everything or go over on something. Our "daily activities" are only one a day. Oh may that activity last for hours giving me lots of time to read, clean, watch a cooking show...oops did I type that...I meant give my kids lasting memories of the summer to beat all summers!

We have a blank day. I call that our "Planned Spontaneity" day. Now, secretly to my children it's the day I set aside to meet with my close friend and her two kids. A day where I dream of the 4 children going off and play nicely & quietly together so her and I can catch up. Or on the days when we can't meet Mommy becomes the best mom ever by singing "last one to the pool is a rotten egg".

When I was a kid we didn't have summer schedules. Our plan was that everyday after breakfast you went outside where you stayed until dinner time. I'm pretty sure Mom slid a tray of lunch under the door and my brother and I picniced under a shady tree. There was no chance of too much tv or wii becuase we only had 3 channels and no video games. Our 65 acres was our playground. Our woods was our fort and dare anyone to enter the woods without a password. My kids, sadly, don't live in that world anymore. Global warming & chemical laden sunblocks keep us inside most of the summer, I now live on 1/4 of an acre, and I would never let my kids out to roam free all day for fear of their abduction, calls to CPS, and who knows what other dangers lurk in the woods these days.

These days we plan playdates in the park, movie day, library day, and we have a schedule posted. And we don't forget to be spontaneous even if it is planned.

So maybe my summer schedule was made more to keep me from going insane (after all isn't that what Mom was doing when she sent us off), maybe it won't be truly spontaneous, maybe it's weird to even have summer structure. Or maybe, just maybe, this will turn out to be the summer to beat all summers! (If I plan accordingly)