Slipping Away. . .

Bean dressed and ready for trouble

My sanity is slipping away.  As the summer draws to a close I have to be honest and admit that I am very, very excited for school to start up again.  I never knew that for a mother, summer break means work and full-time-around-the-clock chaos.  It means keeping my three active boys entertained and out of trouble.
I admit my goals were a little too ambitious.  Each morning the boys had jobs to do, school work, reading/math, and piano practicing.  My mom made us do the same thing every summer when I was growing up and I hated it, just like my boys hate it now.  But I've persevered.  I've toughed it out every morning amid the weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth as they worked.  Most mornings I wonder why I'm inflicting such torture on myself.  Would it really be that bad if I let them lounge around in their pajamas all day watching hours of TV?  Probably not, but then I'd have guilt and my mom would come back and haunt me for being a lazy parent.  But this has not come without a price because somewhere in the process of "Operation Productive Summer" I lost my patience and my mind.
Hopefully a month from now I will look back on this summer with great fondness as I think about the vaction to Oregon, boating with friends, Fun Friday trips to the zoo and museums, and barbecues in the backyard.  But right now all I can think is school can't start soon enough.
I will never, ever home school my children and my mom was a saint.  A saint I tell ya!