Summer Mom Cycle: How June Mom fades into August Mom

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summer mom Summer is a wonderful season. As a summer mom, it’s a chance to forget routines, slow down schedules, and embrace the possibilities.

Until it’s not.

As the golden hue of June shimmers into July’s humid haze and August’s heat, I find my mommy can-do attitude adapts accordingly. 

Adapts. Collapses. Self-destructs. 

Is it just me?

June Mom

Awash in positivity, I’m willing to say yes to pretty much everything, and the to-do list is long and inspired.

  • Mommy is going to teach you how to write in cursive and play the piano and eat all kinds of new foods. In fact, let’s all learn how to cook!
  • We don’t need screen time. Let’s build an entire city using only our imagination!
  • Why, yes, of course, 10 p.m. seems a reasonable bedtime.
  • Pack your bags! It’s time for a road trip! We’ll spend every moment together!
  • Let’s plan something for every single day this summer!

July Mom

The temperature rises and my motivation starts its decline. I’m torn between fulfilling scheduled promises and getting anything productive done.

  • It’s a tad humid, but that’s ok. We’ll go to splash parks, pools, and get out the sprinkler.
  • Once the holiday weekend is over, we’re going to come up with some kind of schedule.
  • The mess is out of control. Let’s make chore charts and all work together to make it better.
  • Maybe we could take the night off of activities, just this once.
  • Let’s have some quiet time. Can we all play by ourselves for a bit?

August Mom

Summer’s possibilities have been exhausted.  I can’t even look at another ice cream cone.

  • No, I’m tired of packing the bag full of diapers, towels, spare clothes, sunscreen, and snacks that suddenly don’t appeal to you.  We’re staying home today.
  • Pick up your toys or I will throw away every last one of them.
  • Here’s a bag of cookies and the tablet. Go nuts.
  • No, it’s too hot to do…anything.
  • No. No! No.

My determined enthusiasm to make the most of every moment slowly fades to simply making it through another day without maxing out screen time and serving hot dogs for each meal. 

Back-to-School Mom

Soon school will start and I’ll think about how I should’ve enjoyed the whole summer. 

I’ll enforce the dreaded bedtime and remember the late nights when we fell asleep reading just one more book.

I’ll rouse their sleepy heads in order to get to school on time and think back to the mornings when we had time for extra snuggles and slow wake-ups.

I’ll pick them up from school and realize there are now major gaps in my knowledge of their days, their emotional journeys, their bathroom experiences. Was nonstop togetherness really so bad?

And by May, I’ll be ready to start the summer Mom cycle all over again. 

summer mom

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