the unlazy days of summer ...

Today marks the first day of summer vacation (The weekend didn't count. Weekends are nothing like Monday mornings). It was the first morning we didn't have to wake up to get out the door by 7:20 a.m. And the first morning I didn't have to yell at someone to "hurry up and get dressed."

The day had so much promise. We could stay in bed all day. We do whatever we wanted, whenever we wanted. Except ...

We couldn't.

Just when I think we will have nothing to fill our days with, we have so much more than any of us could ever wish for.

The girls were up at the cheerful hour of six. This in itself puzzles me, as I literally have to drag them out of bed at 6:45, 180 days a year. After convincing them to quietly lay in bed with me until 7:30, we made our way downstairs before heading to the YMCA.

I had a glorious plan for our morning. We would get to the Y by nine. The girls would go to Child Watch while I did my 3000 meter swim. After finishing around 10:30, I would pick them up and they would get changed for their swim lessons which ran from 11:00-12:00. With a snack and a drink for all of us packed in my bag, I had success in the palm of my hand.

Until, I didn't.

Things started out well. I was in the pool by 9:10. But as soon as I got in, I knew there was trouble. My normally quiet pool (it's usually me, two lap swimmers and a water aerobic class) was bursting with energy. Swarms of children (and their parents) overwhelmed the pool deck. About 15 minutes into my swim, the lifeguards reduced lap swim down to one lane. Suddenly, I was circle swimming with two backstrokers and a breaststroker, who completes one length for every four of mine. Fed up with the traffic jam, I cut my workout short. Only problem was there was over an hour before swim lessons started, we didn't have time to go home and I had three, less than patient, children to deal with.

I swear I answered the question, "How long until it's my turn?", a thousand times.

Just before the tears ...

Eventually, it was their turn. Doodle and Dizzle were champs and Dilly cried through pretty much the whole thing. It played out exactly as I expected. Then, after three long hours, we were able to leave the Y, with a new appreciation for swim lessons and a bucket full of bad attitudes.

Once in the car, Dilly scarfed down her bagged lunch on the way to an afternoon play date, while Dizzle and Doodle complained that they would be "so bored" since they didn't have anything to do. Never one to disappoint, I hooked them up with their own play date of sorts - a play date with school work. Nothing like an hour of mathematics to give them something to do ...

A little multiplication and addition ...

Now it's 3 p.m. and they are creating a behavior chart for themselves, complete with rewards and consequences and I have five minutes of peace for the first time today. And I was concerned that we'd have too much time on our hands this summer ...