I'm laying in bed tonight, realizing that after 3 PM this afternoon, the boys will be home all day, everyday, for the rest of the summer. Truth be told, I'd much rather have the boys home, than at school. Some might call me a masochist, but I just love having the boys around.
Having said that, I want to be very clear. I have no idea what we're going to do this summer, and I know that my kids will be driving me crazy inside their first week home. I have no illusions about that.
With Lizze in intensive outpatient therapy (DBT classes) for the entire summer, the boys and I will have quite a bit of guy time on our hands. We haven't had this much guy time since Lizze and I were separated.
One of the thing that everyone has agreed to do this summer was exercise.
The way we are going to accomplish this is to continue getting up early each morning and either walking the track or going hiking. I'm totally cool with this, but foresee a great many challenges with Emmett. He still won't wear socks and since he's only able to wear crocs, that limits the hiking.
The problem will be that every thirty seconds, he's going to have to stop, take his crocs off and shaking them out.
In light of the reality I'm living in, what we might do walk one lap around the track. The boys can Pokémon hunt, while getting some exercise every morning.
Should this not work out, I'll stage a little reunion of sorts with our *sorta working *treadmill.
When we were planning out the summer originally, we hadn't planned on Lizze needing to be back in DBT again. It's great that she's recognized the need for help and is willing to get the help she needs. DBT classes are a form of intensive outpatient therapy, and not even close to being easy. I completely support her in this slight detour on our journey together. It just changes some of the things we wanted to do because we have to work around her class schedules.
One of the things I want desperately to do is get our yard under control. That's going to take a lot of work and doing so is heavily dependent on the immediate safety concerns.
The other thing I want to do is get the house organized, and figure out a way to keep Lemme, one of our ferrets, from constantly escaping. She's wicked smart and will test every setup for weaknesses she can exploit.
Most of all, I want the boys to have a great summer. That's what matters the most to me at the end of the day.
I want to to do as many *firsts *as we can. Here are a few things I'd really like to do but don't know how I'll pull it off:
- Trips to the zoo, Cleveland, Akron and Columbus
- Take a train ride
- Get the boys to Cook Forest State Park, my favorite place in the world
- I want the boys to have friends come over
- Fishing
- Visit out of town family more frequently
- New fence for our yard, so the kids can play outside
Some of these things are very possible, and others will have to be figured out. What I don't want is to spend the summer, trapped in our house.
Anyway, all of these thoughts came whirling through my brain tonight. Frankly, that's probably the reason I'm having a harder time sleeping tonight.
Anyone else losing sleep over the fact that their kids will be home all summer? What are you worried about? Do you have plans?
