#reverb15 // School's Out

Since I'm an adult in a DINK (dual income no kids) household, school being out for the summer means something vastly different to me than it does to many of my friends with kids. Basically, it is no different than when school is in. Except that the traffic is slightly less rediculous than normal thanks to desperate parents fleeing NoVA for relaxing vacations and exponentially more teleworking because... well, what the heck do working parents do with their kids in the summertime?? It's not like they can just stop working for 2+ months to babysit.

When I was a kid, my dad's parents would come and live with us during the summers. They spent about 4 months of the year (the coldest ones here) in Tucson, AZ, 5 months in PA, and the 3 months in the summer with us in the Blue Room. The Blue Room was the 4th bedroom added by my parents after they bought my childhood home, in the basement, complete with vivid blue shag carpet and matching blue drapes. I eventually moved into that room as a teenager and when I vacated for college, my brother took over until he left home too. The Blue Room was awesome.

I loved summers, I still do, even now when I work right through it without a 3 month sabatical. Those three months, they would take us to and from our swim practices in the morning, my grandma and I would watch The Young And The Restless together every day (yes, even when I was single digits), my grandpa and I would make grilled cheese and tomato soup at least 4 times a week for lunch and read the newspaper together, and my brother and I would build lego cities all over the house and get lost in the woods for hours behind Amanda's house.

I think my parents had a pretty sweet deal with the free childcare. Both of my grandparents are gone now, but as they were not in my life as an adult, these are really the only memories I have of them, they are wonderful and will stay with me forever. I am so grateful for that.

These days, when school's out, I enjoy a shorter commute to work, more walks with my favorite puppy, hikes and bike rides with G, and one of these days, I'm going to lounge in a hammock in the back yard and nap in the sunshine.

#reverb15 #Reflect