I had every intention of showing up here around mid July, then mid summer , then August . Some years I manage to fit in all kinds of things around the edges of having my kids home all summer . Long ago we decided it was more financially possible for me to be mostly not working during the summer or take on more kids than to be able to afford a summers’ worth of day camps for three children. Some years I abandon all things and try to ride the wave of what summer looks like so I can access it in the deepest of January when the world is cold , frozen and blank.
I don’t do as much of the holding summer as container any more, they all have their own agendas; but equally they are not all gone. They need me less but not, not at all. Their expectations of what summer brings mostly revolve around food and water . When will there be raspberries? corn? peaches? The days when we have eaten corn for every single meal and spent our time in bathing suits, drying off and getting wet again.( whether at the city pool or a lake) When the only screens are on rain days . When it’s exciting to stay up late and roast marshmallows; take a late night swim because it is too warm otherwise . Of course these things happen in moments but this was our rinse and repeat for many years where I wrangled children all day every day, it left this summer feeling erratic, like I couldn’t quite grasp it and wasn’t sure what to expect next. To be present and available but not waiting around is a hard line to walk.
In my typical virgo fashion I decided that if I was going to be home in the city for weeks at a time then I was going to make it count. I had three weeks in a row where people mostly had something to do or were away where I took the house apart and put it back together. Last year we spent the one week where all our children were somewhere else moving their rooms around and repainting them , it should be noted I still haven’t got around to painting our room a year later. My focus was on our main floor all the common areas that had become a dumping ground . I emptied cupboards, cleaned out drawers, cleared surfaces, piles of paperwork that had no home or in some cases could be got rid of entirely, moved furniture, dusted high places covered in spiderwebs.
Of course with all this space my first thought was “oh space for more books”, in the previous set up I had a strict one in one out policy … ooops.
I took my studio apart and I let go of a lot of things I had been holding onto that were just taking up space . The aim is to prevent the absolute chaos that tends to build up where I just move piles around and don’t have enough actual space to work . I will let you know how that works. fingers crossed.
The purpose of this was to set the house up as we need it now . So in our fairly small space the five of us can use every inch of our house as functionally and beautifully as possible. To start off September with a clean slate so to speak but with mostly using what we have re jigged . A change is as good as new . Now, how long we can hold it together only time will tell.
As we settle back into the routine of school days, the last year all my kids will go to school before my biggest kid graduates high school (!!!!) I am always thinking of all those children who don’t get to go to school, wont get to go and learn new things and hang with their friends, or in some cases grow up at all. I feel both thankful for my kids lived experience and also wonder why it seems so impossible to make that everybody’s life.
A few links
Maybe 21 Days is more my speed?
This but with the last of the peaches or the first pears
Currently reading this his most recent book is also delightful
Thank you for all the links you shared. I loved reading about how you navigated the summer. I often wonder how long my decluttering will hold. Here's to spaces that allow us all to move in peace and a wonderful autumn season.