Bittersweet Summer

Whoop there it is! Summer vacation for the kids has started. While I love the fact that I can sleep an hour later or hit the treadmill in the morning (wait..rewind..who am I fooling? Sleep later, definitely); coming home after work to the smell combo of bagel bites, popcorn and unwashed arm pits, not so much. (Any mother of boys will know what I'm talking about.)

Like many full-time working, single moms, I have the dilemma of "what the hell to do to keep these children busy over the summer?"  Fortunately for me I don't have the issue of finding day care, but the thought of my kids sleeping until noon then playing video games until the wee hours of the morning bothers me every year. It bothers me so much that by August I'm swearing that this will not happen again the following year and I will make sure my children are not laying around all summer, yet here we are. (**side-eye** to myself)

Now I did make an effort to find a summer camp program for my 10-year old; however, the thought of paying a "day care center" $120 - 199/week so my child can do arts and crafts and go on a field trip or two just was not going to fly in my world. I know I want my child to interact with the outside world during the summer, but that's some bullshiggedy right there. So I'm back to square one.

This is that moment when you wish you had the option to ship your children off to that relative who lives in the country where the only options they have is to climb trees, ride bikes (without brakes) and play kickball. Oh my bad, that was my childhood.  I forgot we don't "do" those type of summers anymore. (sigh)