Vacation???

"Vacation, all I ever wanted..." - The Go-Go's

Teachers...we do it for the love of children, for the hope of a better future, for the sake of humankind...and for summer vacation. Any teacher that tells you any different is a martyristic liar (or a masochist). Seriously, if you see an abnormally large amount of happy adults in the next 6-10 weeks, it's not the latest descendent of Prozac...it's just a bunch of teachers on summer vacation.

Then there are those teachers who just trade in our Smartboard pens for Smart Mops. I'm talking about those of us that are in for a summer of being  SAHMS (stay-at-home-moms)...without the luxury of a six hour school day to keep the wolves...I mean our kids...at bay. Sure there's summer camp, but how many teacher moms have 6k-12k per camper to spend? Those women aren't teachers...they are either high powered execs, doctors, lawyers, or married to one and have the glorious choice of not going to work.

Alas, there's always town camp. I've been a (partially) free woman for a little over 48 hours now and thanks to town camp I have time to myself to marathon train (of course) and grocery shop and get the car serviced. Add to that list an after camp hours trip to the dentist and the vet and we are really partying hard. I may have looked kind of bad ass (or insane) pulling into camp pick up blasting the Beastie Boys, but so far this summer vacation has been catching up on all the crap that gets swept under the carpet from September to June. We haven't even gotten to the pool yet. 

And speaking of the pool, going to the pool is like birthing babies. There's a dude in every woman's brain that erases all memories of child birth so that two years later she decides that doing it all over again is a splendid idea. This is the same schmuck who controls the pool memories. All year long I dream of the pool...forgetting that with kids it's more of a nightmare. Getting dressed for the pool is as exhausting as getting ready to make a snowman...I'm looking at you sunscreen. Then there's the chairs, blanket, towels, dry clothes, toys and snacks you have to pack. Pack enough snacks or you will be bankrupted by the overpriced pool snack-shack. By the time we get there I'm spent and all that effort doesn't feel worth it for an afternoon of, "Hey mom watch me do this." Anybody who has taken a kid 12 or under to the pool knows exactly what I'm talking about...and they know if you aren't truly watching.

But, then there are those moments.The ones where the receptionist at the vet isn't giving you the stink eye because your children ignore your pleas to step off the dog scale. When you aren't 10 minutes late to camp drop off because getting dressed takes an extra 20 minutes because they have to play "naked show." (Why do kids like running around naked anyway?) The moments when you are all  in the car singing Love Shack at the top of your lungs...eating cereal for lunch because they asked for that...sharing a mid afternoon ice cream...and catching a minute or two between "Hey mom watch this" to actually read something more than a children's picture book.  The moments I really reconnect with my kids and develop all these inside jokes and memories that are just ours. Those are the moments that make it all worth it. It is the most wonderful time of the year if you ask me. Sunscreen and all. 

*Miles ran (so far) this week 13. Days until marathon 127 .