I knew that school was ending and summer vacation was approaching. Well, that time is now. Yesterday was the last day of school, and Kidlette is now home with me for 10 weeks. Last summer I kept her in the 9am – 2:45pm summer program five days a week at her Montessori school after kindergarten. I was pregnant, and tried to work and just get a few hours a day in of work and some ‘me’ time (not that it actually happened) before my life was to change and my family doubled in size. This summer will be the polar opposite. Granted, I’m not pregnant and carrying around extra weight in the summer and sporting oh-so-sexy maternity clothes, but I’m quickly realizing that keeping an almost-7 year old girl and a 7 month old boy happy at the same time will prove difficult.
This summer vacation, which officially starts today, I have big plans. Bigger plans than I originally thought. Plus my time frame has been drastically cut short. My mom is going to be staying with us a few days a week for the summer while she looks for a new apartment somewhere in our area (gas is so expensive that it’s just easier to stay here). We have a guest room, which I’ve been trying for some time to convert into a craft room, but it really only works if we have an overnight guest. Having someone live part time for the summer won’t work. That brings me back to my sped-up organization plan for the summer. Multiple rooms in my house have to be purged, cleaned, painted, re-furnished, and re-purposed. The kicker is that it must all be done in a certain order, or complete chaos will ensue. And now that she’s with us, the time to clean is NOW.
The only rooms that won’t be changes are the bathrooms, dining room and kitchen (which all need a good cleaning and update). In addition to all the cleaning, I need some cable TV jacks installed/moved, (more) network jacks installed, and ceiling fan purchased and installed just adds to the mess. The room my mom will stay in is earmarked to be my daughter’s new room (that is currently *completely* covered in toys). I feel like I’m staging dominos.
Now, how do I convince my daughter that all of this staying home, cleaning, and organizing is fun? Besides, I’m getting rid of 95% of her toys and not allowing her to sit around and play XBOX all day while I clean. We have activities planned for the summer, but she already knows we won’t be out doing ‘fun’ things every single day (I just can’t afford the gas).
Well, rather than hanging out in front of my laptop right now, I think I’m going to kickstart the summer by getting a snow cone machine (the baby LOVES the ice) and pack up the car with more donations to Goodwill. It’s a start…
