This summer, I had the opportunity to stay home with my child while he was out of school.  That has never happened in my life with either of my children. Like many of you, I had to work while my children were on summer break.  But this summer, I was fortunate enough to slow down and play with my child.  We spent every single day together, and while most days were amazing, there were some days when we were like two friends that had too much togetherness and needed a break.  I have a whole new respect for stay-at-home moms that don’t get a break. My wish for you is that you could experience a little of that stay-at-homeness and enjoy your children.  We are so busy running around in circles and we feel we need to fill up our children’s days with day camps, art camps, sports camps, etc. that we never allow them to just “be” and enjoy nothingness for a while.  I’m not recommending to let your children stay home all summer and sit in front of the computer or allow them to mindlessly watch television all day.  I am suggesting that we allow them to know what it is to just stop for a while and take in life. 

We all look forward to that time in our lives when things start to slow down a bit.  My fear is, we won’t know how to slow down, and neither will our children.  Their lives don’t slow down when school starts. We will still have them enrolled in this activity and that activity, which to an extent is good, but there is such a thing as too much activity.  As parents, we need to recognize that and find a happy medium. As individuals, we need to do the same. Declare a pajama day soon at your house where you hang out in your PJ’s playing board games, reading books, and working on craft projects together.  Everyone needs some “down” time, even the little people. And it just might make us big people slow down and enjoy life a bit too!