September.
It seemed like yesterday.
The smell of new clothes. The fresh fall air. Adapting to yet another time schedule.
The year breezed by so fast. Before you knew it, Thanksgiving came and went with construction paper turkeys. Christmas holidays jingled by, and Easter hopped along.
Then before we knew it – the kids played their final baseball game of the season; gave their last piano recital of the year and danced their last dance.
Today, kids will scamper down driveways and race around town on their bikes. School’s out, after all. They’re free. Cue Alice Cooper!
To misquote Herb Brooks in Miracle on Ice, “This is their time.” When they grow up, kids will look back on their youth and think about the days they drove around town aimlessly, inhaled McCain’s cakes and went to a soggy Bryan Adams concert – and hopefully smile.
Being a former kid – here’s a summer bucket list of advice:
1) Let kids be kids
That’s it.
Parents, on rainy days, let kids pull a Netflix marathon or watch soap operas. On sunny days, let them go out without a curfew, and let them sleep in the next day.
Have fun with them. Take them on road trips and play car games. Take them to the beach and go camping. Roast marshmallows and tell lame ghost stories. Take them for walks on trails – then teach them how to remove wood ticks.
Before those ten months roll around again, teach your children as much as you can. How to bake cookies. Or fish. Paddle a boat. Or tackle that DIY project you pinned on Pinterest.
Because these two months aren’t just for kids. They’re for parents, too.
[Also posted on the Arborg blog]
Municipality of Bifrost-Riverton 