I have just one question: Where the heck did summer go?
With only nine days left before the kids return to school and merely hours before I pack away my notebook for a week’s holiday with my family, I'm left wondering where the heck the last two months went.
Back in June, as we prepared for summer, I had big plans for getting so much done, and as I sit here, I am scratching my head and wondering what — if anything — I have accomplished.
I never got around to reading that big pile of books on my nightstand, nor did I build the fire pit in my backyard that I have been wanting to build for the last two years, or honestly, even weeded my garden. I am lucky if I even remember to water the flowers — and that’s with the help of my beloved AI pal Alexa announcing it daily.
And now, as back-to-school prep panic begins to set in, I am trying to figure out where I am going to get the time to pick up the school supplies, the new shoes and, of course, the labelling of every... single... thing.
I used to be organized! Maybe not Marie Kondo-level organized, but definitely more than this Tasmanian Devil level I am currently sitting at.
I haven’t even looked at the school website to see what the “recommended supply list” is this year and, to be quite frank, have no recollection of where that “safe spot” even is that I tucked away the kids' labels so that they wouldn’t go MIA. Heck, it was only last week that I cleared out my kids’ backpacks (lunch bags notwithstanding... because gross!) of all the last day of school stuff they brought home in June. (Thank for the thank-you note, Mrs. M!)
As I prepare for a week off, I know I should probably spend some of that time checking these things off of my to-do list, but between me and you, I probably won’t.
My lawn will likely stay a mess for yet another week, nothing will be labelled in time for the first day of school, and the laundry will stay in its hamper to be put away some other time. I have decided instead to take the advice of whoever originally said it and to “not sweat the small stuff."
I am excited to go paddling with my girls, enjoy seeing their annoyance as I yet again beat them at Crazy 8s, and their excitement when they beat me at the bizarre card game they invented over the summer. I am going to enjoy as best I can simply being in the moment with them, and not worrying about “what comes next” — which, as a planner and a card-carrying "worry wart," will be a challenge.
If Facebook memories — and for whatever reason this summer in particular — has taught me anything, it’s that time really does fly and I need to enjoy the little things while I can.
Nikki Cole is a staff reporter at BarrieToday.
