Dog Days in Point of Rocks

I had a good day today, for a lot of reasons, but one reason was that I realized I was not the only stay-at-home mother who felt this way. I took the kids to Story Time at the local library, our regular Tuesday morning routine. While holding my new daycare infant I chatted with two of the moms as the kids listened intently to the stories (such a relief as I used to have to sit in there with them). As we talked, one mom of three said this summer she is spending nearly each day out of the house, since they are more mobile now. She used to stay home, plan play dates, organize crafts and stories, just like what I used to do in my daycare. Now she is tired of it and instead they spend their days at the pool, nature center, playground and other activities. I kept saying that’s how I feel and I have spent the past year beating myself up over not running my daycare like the little preschool I used to envision. But looking at the dynamics of my current group, (my boys: 5 and 3 ½, a toddler some days and an infant) what’s the point? So I left with a huge weight lifted. All this time I thought there was something wrong with me, but instead it happens to other mothers. Sometimes we just need to shake things up without any pre-planned lesson and just let the children direct their own learning.

Then of course, as these things tend to happen, I typed in a few choice words in Google and up popped a job opening perfectly suited for me. So I’ll research and find out about it. Meanwhile, I need to continue stimulating my kids with daily outings when we can and otherwise they seem content to dig in the dirt, play in the sprinkler and draw their own pictures without following any preconceived set of rules. After all it is the dog days of summer.