Gone Fishing...

Summer is officially here. Like so many families at this time of year, we have been very, very busy with pool parties, fireworks, camp, barbecues, and just general summer laziness. I can't complain. The kids seem to be enjoying it, and I am too. Very uncharacteristically for me, I am not stressing about what is to happen in the coming months. I am simply enjoying our summer. Of course, given all of this fun and free time, something has to suffer. I figured it would be the housework. While I could hardly believe that I had missed my two posts for June, sure enough when I checked it out, not a peep from me has been heard in a months time. Did no one miss me? No calls? No flowers? No emails of concern for my well being? It's okay, I know you all have been busy too. After all, it's not easy being a summering suburbanite. It takes a lot of time and hard work.

I grew up right in Philly. My mom had just turned 17 when I was born, and we lived with my older, Roman Catholic grandparents. When I was kid, my mom was a kid herself, my Grandfather was still working full time at a factory, and my Grandmom spent a lot of time at church or playing cards with my Grandpop and her 14 siblings. I was never in any organized sports. I never did any clubs or after school activities. Back then there were no "playdates" or Gymboree classes. I hung out at home a lot with a very young mom and my older Grandparents. I watched a lot of Lawrence Welk, and listened to a lot of Pink Floyd. Sometimes my friends and I would play outside, on the "stoop", or in the street, until it got dark out and we had to come in. So, it's no wonder I am having a hard time raising my three good little suburbanite children. It's not for lack of trying.

I knew that I wanted my children to have a childhood that was unlike my own. I knew I wanted them to be worry free and be able to focus on just the kid stuff. This was something I could never do. I worried constantly as a child. I spent a lot more time around adults then I probably should have, and I knew too much, too soon. For my kids, I want them to enjoy carefree summers filled with kid memories. I want them to remember their Independence Day celebrations, their backyard barbecues, and trips to the shore. You know, I can't remember one single 4th of July until my late teens! I want my kids to have the memories that I did not. I hope that they will remember that I was there, and that I was an active part of everything fun that they did when they were kids. And if my blogging happens to be an unfortunate casualty of summer, well, so be it. Yes, there are a million things to write about right now. The media is buzzing with celebrity deaths;  there are bloggers with fake babies, politics and pundits, and everything else under the sun. My kids, as much as they love me, are young and they don't care if I keep my readers happy. They just want to go for ice cream.

As for that housework, I have to admit that that too is suffering.

This is an original post to Philadelphia Moms Blog. Michelle Wolfson owns and operates Mommy Confessions, where her work is also currently suffering a case of the summer break blues.