The summer stole my writing mojo. I wrote a couple of blogs at the beginning of the summer that my husband said were just ok. I don’t like when he says that. I will go back to them and try to make them better than just ok. I am going to try again today and hope that I do a better job. Let’s give this a try!

I have my three children home with me this summer. My youngest is Lillie. She is 6 and is the most work. The good news is that she seems to love doing many things and isn’t picky. She has gone from dance camp to unicorn camp to cupcake camp. She loves to bake, she loves to dance, and she loves unicorns. I have also finally given in after a year of her begging me and signed her up for soccer this summer so she can try it.

Soccer is making me angry. She is only six, so she is on the younger side of this age group and it’s co-ed. The older boys are completely taking over the games. My husband Seth was a soccer player and is trying to teach Lillie how to use her body to legally keep the ball.

I know that Lillie is tough because she regularly gives me a run for my money. We just got into a fight about pizza. She was not okay with the frozen pizza I made her for lunch! “Order me Pizza Works pizza,” she screamed at me. Let’s just say that screaming and demanding pizza at Pizza Works did not get her any pizza. She has had no breakfast and no lunch. I need to get some food into this child, but it will not be pizza.

I would love to see her use her powers on the soccer field. I don’t want to see anyone push her around in life or on the soccer field. We will see how she does tonight! Lillie loves everything and is having a great summer so far. She is happily skipping through camps and pool time. She is taking swim lessons and is becoming a good swimmer. Giving my children a lot of pool time is a number one priority for me! Learning to swim is one of those skills that are not negotiable. I have made this clear with all three of them. In fact, I am also teaching my puppy Tanner to swim.

Tanner is going to be 10 months old this week. I am teaching him to come down the pool stairs and swim and turn around and get out the pool stairs. It is super important to teach dogs and kids how to get in and out of the pool. I have prioritized swim skills for both Tanner and Lillie this summer.

Moving on to my middle child Ella, who is ten years old. Ella is entering middle school this Fall. She has also started with the middle school age group for her theater camp. Ella is on her second theater camp for the summer and has a third one coming when she finishes this one. My wish for Ella is that she could do her passion all day every day. I am going to have to look for a performing arts school for her. It is hard to send my children to school every day if I am going to be open and honest with you.

I feel like school is very stifling. It isn’t individualized to the child. It feels like a factory, as my oldest child tells me. When you ask Max what he wants to do as a profession, one of the things he will tell you is that he wants to change the educational system. It needs to be more creative and more tailored to the needs of each child. Ella feels like she has to be a robot at school. She says she has to be quiet all day and can’t be herself. If I could make her dreams come true and have her act all day I would. I would rather see her acting all day and doing a couple of hours of school instead of the other way around. I have totally taken a turn in this blog, but the educational system can be frustrating to a creative soul like Ella.

Max is my oldest child who is 12 years old. Every summer I ask my children what they really want to do over the summer. What is their top pick? Max told me playing the Xbox was his top pick. That makes me so sad. That is not what I was looking for Max! If Max had his way, he would play the Xbox all day every day. I signed Max up for a couple soccer camps despite his opposition to it. He is actually enjoying soccer camp with his friends. I can’t believe he is old enough for a high school soccer camp!

Max is also enjoying my new interest in the Marvel movies. One by one Seth and I are getting through them in order and Max loves them too. I love when I can find something to share with Max. His father loves soccer and his Xbox games. Max and I tend to share movies together.

My husband is busy running his businesses and spending time with our family and I am busy playing mommy taxi this summer. I joke about how much I have to drive my children around but there is no where I would rather be.
I don’t tell my husband enough how much I appreciate that he makes it possible for me to be home with our children. I get overwhelmed on a daily basis. I frustrate myself when I get like that. I am living the dream life that I have always wanted and yet I find myself trying to keep up with that life every day.

Listen to how I even talk to myself. I am succeeding and am keeping up with my life. Why do I look at what I am not doing? Why don’t I look at what I accomplish every day and why do I need to accomplish anything? Why don’t I just sit back and put my feet up and enjoy the summer? My very favorite summer activity is to float in my parent’s pool. Forget the lists! I need more pool time and less list time. I see the laundry and dishes that seem to never go away. Don’t you feel like you empty a laundry basket and another full basket appears? It’s like magic! Don’t you feel like you empty the sink of dishes for another full load to reappear in your sink? I don’t know how my family manages to do this. When I woke up on Saturday, I felt my breathing increase looking at the laundry, dishes and messes around the house. My husband sees the look on my face and begins to clean. That is his best defense strategy. When in doubt, just start cleaning. Forget my husband, he helps me a lot.

Let’s talk about the children. One is on her iPad eating a bagel while the other one is on the Xbox. I am totally and completely failing in the chore department. There I go again criticizing myself. If I am constantly criticizing myself, I am not going to be happy and I am going to teach my children to do the same thing.

Let’s talk about what I did right today. I got both of my girls to camps they enjoy today. I also just did math flash cards with my six year old. That is a major win for me. I am also hopefully writing my first successful blog this summer. Maybe my coping skills have decreased because I haven’t been utilizing my greatest coping skill! I need to write, I need to run, I need to read, and I need to have some alone time. I am always taking care of people and I have to remember to take care of myself. I give my children vitamins every day. Today I gave myself vitamins and I took a solid forty minutes to sit down at my computer writing. I can feel the smile spread across my face when I pick up my lap top. Go do something that is going to make you smile today.

Happy Summer,
Laughing, Loving, Learning,
Rebecca Greene

P.S. Seth just read this and said I got my mojo back! Woohoo!