Miscellaneous Musings

Well, the summer has flown by.   In about a week, my son will become a Sophomore, and my daughter a 5th grader.   We survived our summer together with no tears, only a few arguments, and a lot of laughs and good times.

My kids both broadened their horizons this summer, trying out new things, and meeting new people.  I admire both of them for their courage.

My daughter played in her first softball league, and absolutely loved it.  I admired her for accepting her assignment to a team of complete strangers with a sense of excitement.  She made new friends and learned a lot about being part of a team.

My son played golf all summer with Flint Junior Golf, and improved every week.  Again, I admire him for joining the group, despite not knowing anyone there.  In the end, he missed making the playoff rounds by only two strokes, shooting his best round of the year in the final week.

We grew a garden together, and my children got a better sense of where our food comes from.  Many BLT sandwiches were enjoyed thanks to our tomato patch.  We often marveled at the giant zucchinis we found in the mornings that were only small ones the day before.  We laughed heartily when we discovered that our big dog Beans had an affection for raw green beans just picked from the vine, leaving my daughter to ask, "mom, if Beans eats beans, is it cannibalism?"

Fall raspberry season starts next week, and the thought of having to pick berries has my son moaning and groaning as if I were making him haul rocks.  My daughter, on the other hand, takes the opportunity for what it truly is, an opportunity to stand in a patch full of sweet, juicy berries, picking the wonderful fruit, and eating at least as many as she puts in the bucket!  Raspberry jam will be made and put away for consumption during the cold winter months.

As my kids return to school this fall, I hope they will tell their friends that they had a great summer.  A summer not filled with countless hours in front of the TV, WII and computer, but with small adventures in the outdoors, baking cookies, trips to the library, craft projects, watching movies at home, sleeping in, and staying up late.  Life can be simple if we make it a priority.  Our children are only children for a short time, and we owe it to them to teach them to appreciate the simple things in life.  My daughter will be one of the few kids in her class without a facebook account, and my son will not have a cell phone.  Neither of them feel deprived, and I again am in admiration of them for realizing that these things are not necessities, just merely distractions. 

As for me, I am looking forward to the fall, and the challenges that it will present. 

I hope that everyone had a summer as good or better than the one we in the Taylor house shared!

LT