Summer of fun

As a teacher, this is the time of year you think about constantly. These are the days you dream about and long for during the grind of the busy school year. With two little ones and hectic work schedules, the carefree days of summer are truly cherished times.

How often do we wait for what feels like forever and then the time comes, and it passes by so quickly? I often find that my favorite memories and greatest laughs come from mundane things and not the highly anticipated moments.

My goal as I start this summer with my two kids and husband is to just enjoy this time. I want to press pause in my mind and soak up all their littleness. I want to relish this time with them and be OK that we don’t have to have a plan every single day. Sometimes that plan is that we stay in our pajamas and just enjoy our home. Another day it might be we walk across the street to play at the playground and enjoy a picnic. I want to teach my kids that they don’t need an agenda or cruise director to fill every single moment of their summers. I know people who schedule their kids with camps and fun things throughout the summers, which is great, but by the end of summer, do those kids even feel like they had a break?

I always feel it around the holidays, too, where you plan so much “fun” that by the time it’s over, you’re so tired and it’s a blur. Sure, you had a good time, but some of the best memories were the simple things you did, and the time spent together. The best part of Christmas break is when all the “fun” is over and you get to stay home the week between Christmas and New Year in your pajamas and just hang out with your family.

As I head into our vacation this summer at our favorite place, South Haven, Mich., I want to just relax and have fun. When I think back to our vacation last year, some of my favorite times were spent on the front porch swing at our vacation home just talking as a family, enjoying the bakery, and eating a hot dog on the picnic table at the beach. It is the simple pleasures that truly are the most memorable.

There is a Winne the Pooh quote I’ve always loved and reminds me of this time of year” “We didn’t realize we were making memories, we just knew we were having fun.” I hope this is one of those summers I look back on and feel like we rested, laughed, had fun, and made memories.

Megan Rathz is a wife, mother, and teacher. She says everything she has ever learned in life came from her Master Gardener mother.