This is it, friends. This is the 18th summer with my oldest. We’ve spent 18 summers together. I joke that we’ve done EVERYTHING together. We hang out together (because I would drive the kids all summer before they were all 16), we go to YoungLife camp together (because I’m a leader for the girls his age), we go to work together (because he’s worked at a beach for the last few summers and I love the beach), and I keep telling him we’re going to be roomies in college. (Ok, that one’s not true. I have to follow my youngest around on all of her adventures now.) But, seriously, this is number 18 and I’m having a hard time dealing with it. When your babies are born, people say, “Don’t blink.” It’s true, friends. You blink and they are adults.
Yes, I may be getting just a bit emotional as I write this. Parents, this summer just go out and do all of the things. You only have 18 summers.
Find recipes, pick some flowers, sew something for and with your kids, plant a garden, and read some books with your kids snuggled on your lap.
Play with bubbles, explore with blocks, squeeze lemons for lemonade, and bake a pizza from scratch.
Go out and explore! Take a hike, enjoy the view, look at rocks.
Blow some bubbles and play in the water.
Go to the beach and do some exploring.
Plant a garden and grow something new.
What if this was Summer Number 18? Are there things you would have wished you had done? I often say that our literacy lives are truly the sum of our experiences. Here we are, at the beginning of June, almost ready for another summer. What experiences will you have with your child this year? What will they go back to school and tell their friends about? What memories will have been made? Every single exploration is something they will tie to their reading and writing. As much as these experiences are about emotion, connection, and time with your kids, they also have a tremendous impact on your child when it comes to literacy.
What will you do?
Happy exploring!