Motherhood during summertime has always been a blessing and a curse. Long days without a schedule but then long days without a schedule- know what I mean? I've had 21 summers as a mother. Some better summers than others. Yesterday, 3 of the 4 kids asked me to go to Lacma- the museum that's here in LA. I feel like I'm always asking them to go and they turn me down so you could imagine my giddiness when they suggested it!! Not only would we be doing something they wanted to do- Cam was going to drive us! (Nerve wrecking but amazing that I didn't have to be the one driving on LA freeways!)
We did it right by hitting up the food trucks across the street for lunch before entering the museum- you know, avoiding meltdowns because we're hangry. Which means more perusing later with full bellies.
We did the usual- walking, talking, admiring, lots of photos. But it wasn't til we were driving home that it it hit me. About 12 years ago, I had only 3 kids and they were about 8, 5 and 3. I was on a kick to beat boredom during that summer with young children. I wanted to take them on adventures that didn't cost a lot of money. So came the idea of visiting a new park each day in LA. We did this religiously for an entire summer. Some were hits, some were misses. But the overall memory stuck with us. And this tedious task for me, sitting at a park all day long- this is pre-iphone period, so usually reading a book/magazine, playing with the kids, refereeing stranger's kids, all of that in the LA heat- hours upon hours of doing that... made my heart hurt. I longed for that time on the park. The time where my babies were just babies and the days and months of summer were long but so full. Yesterday was pretty amazing. Being able to still be together and going on an adventure. I honestly love this stage where my children are now, 21, 17, 15 and 10. I wish I could pause it and soak it up. I know now that the summers are long but fleeting. How time has changed... park sitting all day to me dropping the day's to-do list to hang with them at the museum. Always the right choice.
We did it right by hitting up the food trucks across the street for lunch before entering the museum- you know, avoiding meltdowns because we're hangry. Which means more perusing later with full bellies.
We did the usual- walking, talking, admiring, lots of photos. But it wasn't til we were driving home that it it hit me. About 12 years ago, I had only 3 kids and they were about 8, 5 and 3. I was on a kick to beat boredom during that summer with young children. I wanted to take them on adventures that didn't cost a lot of money. So came the idea of visiting a new park each day in LA. We did this religiously for an entire summer. Some were hits, some were misses. But the overall memory stuck with us. And this tedious task for me, sitting at a park all day long- this is pre-iphone period, so usually reading a book/magazine, playing with the kids, refereeing stranger's kids, all of that in the LA heat- hours upon hours of doing that... made my heart hurt. I longed for that time on the park. The time where my babies were just babies and the days and months of summer were long but so full. Yesterday was pretty amazing. Being able to still be together and going on an adventure. I honestly love this stage where my children are now, 21, 17, 15 and 10. I wish I could pause it and soak it up. I know now that the summers are long but fleeting. How time has changed... park sitting all day to me dropping the day's to-do list to hang with them at the museum. Always the right choice.
