All the wonderful things

Positivity: It's what's for breakfast. I started thinking just now of all the wonderful things we've done or witnessed this summer:

- Sent our kids to camp, where they enjoyed the wild and joyous life there, and we enjoyed two weeks of quiet, uninterrupted couple-time (TV -- What We Do In The Shadows made us laugh, and Chernobyl was disturbing and great) (along with our day jobs, of course). This is a luxury so many parents don't have, and even though we don't go on a lot of regular dates, we can count on this time in the summers. It wasn't fancy, but it was good.

- Painted a room! As well as clearing out a lot of clutter from that room, and from other rooms. I donated lots of books and clothes this summer, and that felt great.

- Continued to work, with the help of our nanny. Carli has come to our house just 1 or 2 days during the weeks when the kids are home; just enough to appease and entertain Kate. She's taken them to her neighborhood pool, done errands for me, gone to Target (just to look!) and this week, she introduced Kate to the art of thrifting, for which I will forever be grateful (Kate came home so proud of her Abercrombie shorts for $3! More of this, please!).

- Watched Kate's anxiety about being home "alone" decrease. At the beginning of the summer, she was very worried on the few days we left them without Carli. All my reassuring words weren't enough to convince her, Alex being 15 wasn't enough, and she would text me several times a day asking when I was coming home or saying she was scared of a noise. This week, she found out she had two days of "home alone," and didn't really bat an eyelash. It's just the norm now, nothing to stress about. I hope that will stick.

- Given both kids a measure of independence. Making their own breakfasts and lunches. Doing some laundry. Vacuuming for extra allowance. Today Kate's re-organizing her bathroom. I think those are good skills to have in their life-toolboxes, even if they aren't as spectacular as trips to water parks and Europe and Alaskan cruises, like some of their friends have had this summer.

- But we DID take a trip to the water park, in Destin! And spent a day on a pontoon boat. And long, lazy days at the beach and the pool. We spent 7 days together, smelling like sunscreen and doing very little productive. I'm so grateful for that week.

- Attended several pool parties at our neighbors' house. There's another one this weekend, and the kids will even get to attend. :)

- Shuttled Alex to and from Band Camp for the past 2 weeks! And that has enabled/required me to work from home more, leave my office early and go in late. This is a little blessing, and has made my summer feel more at ease, actually.

- Experienced a few band rehearsals and watched Alex be AMAZING as part of this talented group! Every time I'm there, my heart swells.

- Started planning a trip to Indianapolis for the Bands of America Grand Nationals competition in November! So we may not have traveled a lot this summer, but we're adding a trip to our schedule for late fall, and it's going to be FUN. And I'm hopeful we'll get to stay somewhere for free, stay tuned.

-  Celebrated Alex's birthday by buying him tickets to the Atlanta Reign homestand -- and next week, Kate and I are going to celebrate last Christmas again, because one of her gifts was tickets to see Shawn Mendes! Experience gifts FOR THE WIN.


Summer's almost over here, y'all. School starts NEXT WEEK for one kid, and we've already bought supplies. Hang on, we're in for a wild ride!