Samhain Publishing

Last time I was here at the Samhain blog, I was worried about surviving Spring Break.

The weather wasn’t cooperating with any of my plans, and by the end of the “holiday” I was exhausted and dreading the end of the school year. I was also questioning if I could possibly make it through summer without losing my mind.

Then a wonderful thing happened. So wonderful, it bordered on miraculous.

I found the city Summer Camp program.

You’ve never seen someone as excited about camp as this mom was that day. The programs! Camps are divided into 2 week sessions, and for each session you can choose from themes such as Art Camp, Creationz, Performing Arts, Florida Outback, Fitness Camp, Basketball, Volleyball, Soccer, Surfing, Sports and Nature.

So my kiddo is going to full day camp for the first time this summer. Not every week, but enough that I’m about 94% sure I’ll hang on to my sanity through the eleven week break.

Before she starts Camp Fun Times, we’re going to get in a short vacation to Universal Studios. Three days of riding the movies, eating food someone else cooked, and splashing in the hotel pool (that someone else cleaned). Ahhh, a little slice of paradise.

Later in the summer we’ve got plans to go visit family for a few days. And we scheduled in a few weeks at home between camp sessions, so she can play with her friends that won’t be at camp, and have at least a few day trips to the beach to splash in the waves.

Now that I know I’ve got some quiet days in the middle of a near constant refrain of “Mom, my brother flicked me on my head” and “Mom, my sister touched my stuff – again” the pressure is off. It’s been a lot easier to relax and look forward to the hot months ahead, anticipating the fun parts. Instead of stressing over when I’ll ever find time to work again, I can peak at my calendar and know exactly when those quiet hours are going to happen.

I’ve got my fingers crossed that the camp program works as well as I’m hoping. That she gets the best of both worlds from having structured time during the camp weeks, and free time on the off weeks.

And even if it doesn’t end up being everything I’m hoping it will be, I’ll know she had a chance to try something different, make a few new friends, and experience new things that she wouldn’t have while sitting on the couch watching Phineas and Ferb.

Now that’s a summer vacation I can look forward to.
~
Watch for Flawed – coming June 30th from Samhain Publishing
Ember’s website
Twitter with Ember