…Was Easy
Growing up in the 60’s and 70’s with a ton of siblings and a block filled with kids all the same varied ages; summertime was heaven on earth. On our street on Long Island, there could be, on any given summer day, twenty or so kids of various ages, still playing well into the dusk hours.
By sunset, we had already finished endless innings of stickball, had climbed numerous trees, played kick the can and ring-a-lario(a game that would probably be outlawed today) and were ready for the evening activity of catching fireflies and roasting marshmallows, on real sticks that you had to find.
These memories of summer are emblazoned in my memory, more and more these days as I struggle with the question of “what to do with my 10-year-old boy” on these long, warm, glorious days.
We Didn’t Do Camp
There was never a need in my family or the families that we were surrounded by to ever entertain the notion of going anywhere else during the day in the summer, except for perhaps Jones Beach. We had everything we needed; gloves and bats, water pistols, bubbles, chalk, books, hula hoops, lemonade stands, and above all else, our imaginations. The idea of planned day camp was not an option in our neighborhoods, perhaps because most of the moms were stay-at-home and the blue-collar lifestyle generally didn’t include a budget for camp.
As a matter of fact, I hadn’t a clue what summer camp was until I was 38 and my daughter was six and myself having returned to work, needed to plan what her summer would be.
Go Outside and Play
That was my mother’s mantra and what an easy directive that was to obey back then; these days, I fear, not so much. I find myself trying to sound excited and inspired when I tell my son on these beautiful summer days to just “go outside and play” and realize that for him that notion is not really an option. We live on a little over an acre plot and he has a tree-house, and that’s nice, but he isn’t exactly going to run into a stickball game or a handful of kids his age climbing trees. No, for that he is going to need me to check with other moms, a few days before, to see who is free and willing to schedule a playdate. It breaks my heart some days, not because it would free me up to get done what I need to do, but because those summer days of endless outdoor play seems to be a thing of the past.
For me, the ironic part is that we moved to a rural, countryside area for exactly those reasons. We envisioned our existence as being in tune with the great outdoors and our playtime being in sync with all that Mother Nature had to offer. Not so much.
It’s The Most Wonderful Time of The Year
Who doesn’t remember that brilliant Staples commercial, where the dad is skipping with joy while pushing the shopping cart down the aisle of Staples tossing all the “back to school” supplies into the cart, oblivious of the glum expressions on his children’s faces. As much as that ad has always made me laugh, I can’t help but be saddened by the idea that this is what summer has become.
While we long desperately for it during those dreary winter days; and we embrace it for the month of July when we are allotted that two, maybe three-week vacation, by the time August rolls around we are generally at our wits ends with figuring out another three weeks of engaging activities for the kids.
Age and Weather
With age comes wisdom, right? Well that’s what they say, but it also comes with weathering. I am 52 and my son is 10 and while most days he keeps me young and on my toes, there are the 90-degree days and the 110-degree hot flashes that just don’t mesh. On an early June weekend I asked him if he wanted to go walk down to the lake and go for a swim. He had his head in a video game. It wasn’t terribly warm out, maybe in the 70s, but it was sunny and not a cloud in the sky. “Having a hot flash mom?” was his reply. I couldn’t help but laugh but at the same time I felt a sort of melancholy for the good ole days, the days when kids would jump at the chance to go swim in the lake or play outdoors.
I felt a longing for the days when kids would grab a towel or buckets at the mere mention of an outdoor water adventure. I felt myself craving for that day when I would have the luxury of enjoying every single warm summer day, outside, with my son, with or without the hot flashes.