Our Last Summer Saturday

My children, or my beloved cherubs as I call them, start school next week, which makes today our last Saturday of summer vacation.

Upon reading that, did you hear sad trombones playing faintly in the distance or did you hear a marching band start a victory song?

I’m sure I’m going to be fairly un-relatable to some of you, but I am swimming in sorrow over here at the thought of my children going back to school. I know if we were face-to-face right now you would be looking at me as though I just said I don’t watch television (I rarely do by the way!)

Quick, before I lose you entirely, let me say words to bring you back…HUMMUS, HUMMUS, PUMPKIN SPICE, WINE, HUMMUS! Are you with me now? Whew, that was close!

It’s true, I love summer and I don’t want to see it end. I will miss late nights followed by lazy mornings. I will crave our homemade butterscotch pancakes, which will be replaced by frozen waffles eaten just a little too fast.  Conversations of, “What do you want to do today?” “I don’t know, what do you want to do?”, will transform into, “Hurry up! We’re late!” I will yearn for nowhere to be as we zip off in the morning before the sun has risen. I will dream of ice cream mustaches, kids chasing seagulls, road trips, the scent of five sunscreened little bodies, and pajama days. I will miss my five year old crawling into bed with me in the morning as I sip my coffee. I will miss her gross little morning breath escaping from her half brushed teeth. I will miss late night chats with my kids that reveal truths not told until the late hours when the world around them is still.  Spiderman costumes and bikinis will be replaced by polyester uniform skirts, flip flops by laces, pool bags by back packs.

Sigh.

Dear time, please slow down.

I will be the first to admit, I work from home and I only have 50% custody of my children. I have luxuries in my schedule that many of you don’t. I’m sure it plays a factor in my desire to keep my children home with me just a little longer. Shared custody means I only get half of the summer Saturdays, which makes today even more special.

I leave you now as I venture into this last summer Saturday with my beloved cherubs. We don’t have any great adventures planned and I’m sure the memory of today will fade along with their tanned skin, but I assure you I will cherish every second of this day until they rest their sun-kissed freckles on their pillows.

Before the day begins, there is one last important talk that I need to have with my children which begins with, “What do you want to do today?”

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Carrie Lyons
Carrie is a perfectly imperfect South Hills mother of five. She is head honcho of Three One Photography, as well as an athlete, a pepperoni eating vegetarian, and an enthusiast of coffee, wine, polished nails, white eyelet anything, and kind-hearted people. She is a disciple of “please” and “thank you” and a partner to her police officer/firefighter husband. When Carrie is not writing, taking pictures, talking skincare, filling her Amazon cart with books she is too tired to read, raising little humans, loving ferociously, cleaning, or sleeping, she is figuring out how to do it all better tomorrow and thanking God for the big stuff, the little stuff, and everything in between.