Our Summer Bucket List

As one of my friends put it, the dawn of summer is simultaneously exciting and terrifying. All of this unstructured time with the kids around! All of this unstructured time with the kids around. So many opportunities for magical moments! So much pressure to create magical moments. 

To try to ensure that our summer is more exciting than terrifying, I have put together Our Summer Bucket List:

10. NO MORE LICE. I think that three infestations in a year is enough. If there is one more outbreak later this summer, I'm declaring defeat and shaving everyone's head. 

9. Keep the Children Alive. This is one of my goals for the summer, too. If I ever start to feel stressed that our children are not having a Pinterest-worthy summer, I will ask myself this simple question. 

8. Survive the Move. We are moving to a new house in, oh, two weeks, and are going on vacation next week, because isn't that what everyone does right before they move?! I think if we can all survive, including our three crazy cats, that will be another sign of Summer Victory. 

7. Don't Lose the Summer Reading Chart. One of the nice things about summer is that the paperwork lets up for a bit, but there are still opportunities for people like our family to fall through the cracks. I'm thinking that this will be the summer that we can all rise to the occasion.

6. No One Drowns in the New Pool. See #9, although this also extends to others. Our new house that we are moving to has its own pool, which is also simultaneously exciting (hours of entertainment!) and terrifying (chances of drowning rises exponentially!). 

5. Catch Up On All Work, Ever. Catch Up On a Reasonable Amount of Work. Every summer, I look at the calendar and all of the time I will be able to devote to catching up to research and service and teaching projects at work, and every.single.summer I end up somewhat dejected and bummed that I did not accomplish nearly all that I dreamed of. This summer, I am trying to instead figure out what would be "reasonable" and aim for that. A work in progress, for sure. 

4. Actually Camp in the Backyard. This is something that we talk about doing all of the time, and yet very rarely actually do. This summer, I'm determined to make it is a reality, mosquitoes and all. 

3. Ensure that Our Children's Brains Don't Turn to Mush. I am not gifted enough to be an elementary school teacher, and so I'm sure that our children will slide over the summer compared to the school year, but I hope that we can do enough at home that their brains don't turn to total mush. 

2. Get Everyone to the Right Place, At the Right Time, At Least Sometimes. I think that summer activity and childcare planning requires an advanced degree in logistics. This summer, more than previous ones, will be a hodgepodge of different activities and pick-up times and drop-offs and shuttling. I hope that most of the time, we can conquer it, and at least not permanently lose any children in the process. 

1. FIND JOY. I have so many memories of summer as a child, with making up and acting out "commercials" with my sister on our back deck, to lying on the couch and being sucked into a great book all day, to playing capture the flag all evening long with cousins. This summer, I want to remember that it's rarely the big things, but so often the little moments, that matter in the end. And I hope that I can slow down and savor them as they unfold. 

What would be on your summer bucket list??