Summertime!

I think I look forward to the end of school and the start of summer even more now than I did when I was a little kid. Oh, sure, when I was a student I always looked forward to summer vacation, when I could play with my friends and swim in the pool all day long, never put on shoes, and stay out until the streetlights came on. But by the end of vacation, I was always kind of ready to go back.

When I became a teacher, I developed the same antsy, drooly summer-lust I had as a kid -- and appreciated the vacation all that much more, because really, it's awfully short. Soon enough, I'd be back to work, teaching everyone else's kids, and don't get me wrong, I LOVE my job, but there's always that one kid (or two, or five, or that whole class) that makes you think maybe collecting garbage might have been a better career choice.

This year, I've been awaiting summer more eagerly than ever before, because it's been TEN MONTHS since I've had TLB all to myself. I know parents joke about dreading summer vacation and loving the start of school, and when TLB is school age I'll probably make the same jokes, but he's at the age right now where everything he does is nothing short of awesome, and now that I'm out of school, there are so many things we can do together.

We can go for longer walks. We can go for more bike rides. We can go to the beach. We can visit a different park every day, and figure out which one we like best. We can meet Daddy for lunch, and I can order TLB something off the menu instead of having to pack bottles and jars of food. We can play music and dance in the play room. We can go to story time at the library. We can go to the zoo, and the Alligator Farm, and Silver Springs. There are endless possibilities.

I've had some pretty good summers, but I think this is going to be the best one yet.