Great news everyone! Travel Alberta’s Summer Stay 2010 magazine is now available and I have THREE articles in it! If you do not already have a copy, you can check it out online here or call 1.800.ALBERTA to request a copy. In addition to the fabulous writing, this magazine is full of great ideas and savings for summer fun in Alberta!
I love this province!
It is a sunny Sunday afternoon. My daughter and her friend are eating ice cream and happily swinging in the backyard. The sprinkler is on for running through and rinsing off sticky ice cream hands. I am on the deck with a cool drink, a good book and my laptop. For this brief moment, everything is good. I can’t help but think that this is a civilized way to parent.
Now if I could only keep it this way…
I can’t clean our house anymore. It is too hot.
OK, it won’t be too hot in a few days, so I can probably do it then. And it was not too hot for a while a week ago, so I could have done it then, too. But right now, at this moment, I can feel confident and guilt-free in the knowledge that today, it is too hot.
Now don’t get the wrong idea, our house is not a complete pigsty, I have done some cleaning here and there as well as a few random acts of tidying. What I have not done is the floor mopping, carpet vacuuming, major bathroom and kitchen cleaning that a “real” cleanup demands.
It is just too hot.
I have let the kitchen counters stay piled up with junk, only putting away the top few layers. I tell myself I am OK with having to carefully step over the clothes, toys, books, etc. in my daughter’s room everyday to give her a kiss goodnight (don’t some parents call this “creative expression”?). I avoid unloading the dishwasher because I want to be sure it is completely cool before opening the door; I can’t bear to let any more heat into the house.
This all sounds very unkempt, I know, but isn’t this what is meant by “those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer”? I am not sure if it is exactly what Nat King Cole meant, but I don’t think it is far off the mark either. I like to think that I am just being loyal to my season. In another week or so it will be September and with it will come cooler temperatures, fewer excuses, and, if I am lucky, a clean house.
“You forgot Jason at the park.”
I turn around to see another mom talking to the instructor at my daughter’s day camp. He is apologetic as this mom informs him that she watched him take the children back into the building, leaving her son alone at the playground. It is the first day of a week-long day camp and it seems we are not off to a good start.
Never one for confrontation, I was instantly uncomfortable and quietly edged away. I don’t blame this mom for being upset, but I not comfortable watching someone get called out on the carpet and, I must admit, I was also relieved it was not my kid left outside by herself. Even worse, I did not want to think there was anything wrong with this camp that I picked for my daughter.
Later in the day I shared this story with my girlfriend and as I talked I started to get upset. It is true that the group of kids were a real handful, but there is really no excuse for not doing a head count. I had tried to convince myself earlier that this was not an issue for me because my kid was not the type to wander off, so I had nothing to worry about. But my kid does get lost in her own world of play, oblivious to what is going on around her. And if she got bored, would she wander? There is a first time for everything, after all. I started to see these instructors as a bit less than competent with this age group. It is a tough one, ages 3-5; cute and adorable but not exactly great listeners and minimal attention span. I so wanted the experience to be good for my daughter that, for a brief time, I was willing to overlook a safety issue. I was disappointed and angry with myself. How could I have ignored that? Even for a few hours?
So I stayed in the park outside the camp building the next day. And the day after that. And so on, until the camp was over at the end of the week. I spread out on a blanket with my work, enjoyed a few summer days, kept a watchful eye, and created a little peace of mind for myself. I felt more than a bit overprotective, a big change from my thoughts at the beginning of the week, but definitely more comfortable. And do you know what? It was worth it – they forgot another kid at the park on the last day.
