It's that time of summer...

Has the excitement of summer worn off? I think it might be gone. Maybe we're getting tired of being around each other all day, every day. I'm still happy the kids are off of school. As a former teacher, I love the summer. I spent six years teaching and counting down the days until summer vacation. As a parent, I still love it. I love that the kids are home. I love not having to wake up to an alarm every day, staying in pj's as late as we want, and having laid back days. But when someone offers to take one or two kids for the day, I do a happy dance.

I start the summer the same way every year. I say we're going to go to the library every week. I sign the kids up for something, anything to get them out of the house for a little while. This year, Pirate had swimming lessons for two weeks at the beginning of the summer. I also signed Princess and Pirate up for Vacation Bible School at a local church. I've never sent them to anything like that before, and I thought it might be fun. This was in May. At that time, July 8-13 seemed really far away. By this weekend, I was rethinking the decision. Did I really want to get everyone up and dressed and in the car to drop them off at 8:30? I know where the church is and what the parking is like, and it didn't seem appealing to have to drag five kids in there twice a day all week. So, the second Princess said she didn't want to go, I jumped on it and decided not to take them. Classic Amy. I sign up, then I back out. In my defense, neither of them wanted to go, so I didn't feel so bad about not doing it. And it was free. If I had paid, I would have made them go. Everything else just seems to have that 'blah' feeling to it lately too. Last week was around 350 degrees out, so we stayed inside the whole week. Now, temperatures are back to normal, and we're still not doing much. I still offer to fill the pool every day, but the older two say it's boring. Yes, a small plastic pool with a little slide is nothing compared to the community pool down the street. However, I am not insane and I will not take all five kids to the pool alone. Or with help. Not gonna happen this summer.

Usually when the Summer Blahs hit, it's right around vacation time. Then we go away for a week, come home refreshed, and everything seems fun again. This year we aren't going anywhere, and the summer feels looong. My husband is on vacation next week, so hopefully we'll do some fun things, or just having him home will make things feel less 'blah'.

In the meantime, I am getting sick of hearing the same things over and over and over from my kids. I'm tired of the whining, complaining, fighting, yelling, arguing, and the mess. Here are some things I hear every day:

1. "It's too hot." -No shit, it's summer.
2. "I'm bored." -Seriously? I know it's not that exciting to be home all the time, but we have trillions of toys, crafts, art stuff, games, etc.
3. "What are we doing that's fun today?" -This is it. Tough.
4. "Can I have my turn on the computer now?" -Asked at least 100 times a day.
5. "Can I play my DS now? Or the Wii" -Also 100 times a day.
6. "Can I have a snack?"  All day long.
7. "He/She isn't cleaning up!" -Said at least 500 times a day, instead of actually cleaning up the toys. (For being so bored, they sure do drag out a lot of shit.)
8. "Where is my____?"  -Are you kidding? Keep track of your own stuff.
9. "What's for dinner?" -This starts first thing in the morning. And is repeated all day. Usually followed by "I don't like that." Tough.
10."When will Daddy be home?" -This one's my favorite because it shows they are tired of me, and that clearly Daddy is the more fun parent. Also it means they'll be off my back for a little while ;-)
11. "I'm telling." You don't need to tell me. I heard what happened. I'm ignoring you.

I'm not just tired of hearing them say the same things. I'm tired of constantly repeating myself, too. Sometimes I wish I had a CD that I could just repeat of my voice saying the same thing over and over.

"Clean up!"
"Get off of your brother/sister."
"Stop jumping on the couch."
"Stop throwing toys."
"Stop throwing food on the floor."
"Stop tattling."
"No, it's not snack time. You're not that hungry. You don't know what starving means."

Now I know why parents send their kids to summer camp. I wouldn't trade my time at home with them for going to work all day. But I do breathe a sigh of relief when Buster gets home from work. Some nights I go out for a walk, either alone or with Curly. Some nights I get excited to run to Target, just to have time alone. And by far, the happiest time of day is when I see all of their sweet faces sleeping. I love them the most then!