even tho' most nova families seem to consider august their peak vacation month (btw, when did this happen? last time i looked at summer, it included the month of july! and yet, as with many other areas, kids' schedules seem to dominate planning, and since most kids' camps/sports/etc. occur in july, voila, august is now the official vacation month), i have already sunk into my annual depression that is triggered at the first sign of fall. thank you target for releasing school supply displays in mid-july, for ensuring that this depression kicks off earlier every year. the displays featuring school lunch items depress me the most. nothing makes me feel more defeated than the thought of another year of making school lunches.
anyway, this past week, i attempted to channel my depressive energies (is this even a thing? whatever, i can make anything a thing) into enrichment activities for the kids. you know, the things that we as parents do to make ourselves feel like good parents, even if the kids have zero interest in said outing. example #1: on tues, i took my kids to the national postal museum. this place sounded right up my alley -- a smithsonian with a nerdy theme that didn't overwhelm me the way "air&space" or "natural history" might. o humored me sufficiently, enjoying the gallery of all the stamps ever made, but once k discovered there was nary a dinosaur in sight, he did not hesitate to inform me that he thought it the most boring museum ever. repeatedly. and loudly. despite this mixed review, i do give it 2 thumbs up on the whole -- i think the place is charming and easy to breeze through in an hour. truly remarkable is how the museum designers devised SO MUCH to say about mail. and, the souvenir shop is kinda cool. plus, you can always buy current stamps to scratch the souvenir itch.
next, i took the kids to ikea for "free meal tuesday." this cheap mama has stooped to new lows in entertaining my kids. but k feasted on his chix and fries, while o was anxious to head to the store's "smaland," a play area featuring a ball pit. consistent w/my general luck, as we waited in a torturous line (being my usual ego-centric self, all week i've been asking myself why everyone else has the same idea as me), a rumor quickly whipped through the line that a child had peed in the ball pit and thus it was now closed. i tried to ignore all the germy implications of this incident, but i still hosed down my kids once we got home. all in all, i have a love-hate relationship w/ikea.
yesterday, i hauled my kids to burke lake park. whenever i venture to this park, i convince myself that it's not that far (i do the same thing w/leesburg). but 25 min into the drive, i ask myself what i was thinking. my schedule this week has largely been dictated by the coupon book from the ffx cty library summer reading program. i do not recommend this method of decision making.
anyway, the kids insisted on mini-golf to start the day, only bc they had spied that every camp in the nova region had descended upon the course simultaneously so mini-golf seemed like the coolest thing to do. i was relieved to hear the mom in front of me ask about putting "the back nine." this made me feel like less of a moron when i too asked if i could golf the "back nine." as the kids and i scaled the treacherous rocks and cesspools of really gross water to access the 10th hole, k accidentally thwacked me in the ankle w/his putter. the kind of thwack that makes this normally clean-mouthed mom really want to swear.
then, of course, 2 other trios of golfers backed up behind us, and if there's one thing that paralyzes me, it's the feeling that we're holding other people up (hubby is impervious to such pressure which makes us a great match). of course, k chooses this time to hit his ball any which way except for what's proper, and we all take at least 6 turns to get through hole #10. i'm wrestling with wondering if i'm supposed to be teaching the kids more about rules (bc we've broken every possible rule that dictates mini golf) or if i should choose this one time to be easy going and chill, the kids fight about who's first, my ankle is still smarting, and i wonder why putt-putt always has to have 18 holes. seriously, are 9 not sufficient?
i know, i'm such a summer grinch. then we decided to picnic, but 12 min into our seemingly pleasant lunch, o complains that her tummy hurts. i go through my usual line of questioning to assess how panicked i should be, and o just vaguely insists that she wants to be home. NOW. so we pack up, head home, the kids both fall asleep (which hasn't happened for 2 yrs so then i'm thinking that my kids both have freak summer fevers while navigating the beltway) on the drive, and finally we pull into my driveway. 1 hr later, my kids are merrily playing every board game in our living room that they've neglected since last christmas. and i wonder, why do i go to all this trouble if they just want to be home. well, bc it's 70 degrees outside with 0% humidity dammit, and we WILL have fun!
will i learn my lesson? i dunno. bc today i'm thinking mount vernon. what can i say, i'm a really really slow learner.
