Forever Summer !

Clutching his favourite teddy, my younger one rubs his sleepy eyes and asks, “Where’s papa?”
With me taking a hint of caffeine and skimming through the daily Page 3 and astrology stuff, I look at him.Even before I answer that Papa's off to office... one look at him makes me grin. Clad in pajamas, waking up after 9am, and immediately settling down before the TV to catch up his daily dose of Mickey mouse, instead of the customary "brush, bath and tiffin-box and school "routine, I welcome summer with all my heart.

Yes, summer is here, and so are the holidays for the kids. My elder one is yet to join the wagon (with this week being his last in school) but that doesn’t stop me from getting those summery jitters, with equal portions of mixed feelings.

Moms love it, moms hate it.

Summer holidays are nevertheless, an unparalleled phase of every child, where he can be himself, not having to worry about homework, and school bus and sleeping before 9pm.

It’s ironical that holidays for moms and kids are mutually exclusive. When they are happily enjoying their leave from school, it’s me who faces even more challenges in introducing more activities in their daily routine, while catering to their daily food cravings too. With Chennai being the heat capital of India, the constant downpour of lemonades and Rasnas are unstoppable. There’s also a little bit of junk food creeping slowly into the refrigerator. Fruits are looked down, and jello-s are the flavor of the season. The kids room is sprawled with crayons, and puzzles and glue-sticks, with half-finished ambitious craft works. Computer games, board games and video games. Games are really the in-thing !! Another challenge is to not let the kids go overboard with TV. Whoa !! that’s quite a task.. every present mom would agree in unison that TV is the best way to keep the kids quiet for a little bit of time, while you do a bit of my-time. But then, this gets easy when they go to school, and a routine is set. But, summer holidays aren’t as rosy as they seem. Even for the little ones !! After a little while, boredom ensues and the prospect of getting back to school routine is spelt as “heaven” to both.

As for me, we are lucky to have a swimming pool in our condominium apartments. No commuting, no time hassles. Just a dip in the cool water would melt away a couple of hours so easily, that everyone of us look forward to the evening. While the little ones are shouting for more fun, the moms also form a little “Water-wives club” right inside the pool !!! Gossip rules it all, and all the moms do enjoy this bit of time without any feeling of guilt that you are not attending the kids. Of course, after a bit of struggle to literally drag the wailing kids ( who wouldn’t want to come out of the pool at any time), snacks ensue and then everyone runs off to the playground. By dinner time, kids are so drained out that they are out like a light even before 9pm. And to think, the 9pm sleep is quite a high target when they are going to school. And during holidays, when timings don't matter that much,... they sleep off even before the scheduled time. So much for discipline and time schedules !!!

Another big joke which is ruling the summer is the sleeping arrangement. As an agreement, when the kids were shifted to their own bedroom, they agreed to sleep all on their own only on weekdays ( meaning no school and no tennis for my elder one). Weekends are on us. This was going on quite well, until the holidays spat an ugly truth on us. They have completely shifted to our bedroom, with my younger one reasoning that “No school, no tennis ..so we sleep with you”. We wait until they hit the sack, and are sound asleep… and slowly shift ourselves to the kids bedroom. Every single day, we thank God for not buying a bunk bed for them yet… otherwise I should be finding my hubby on top of me !! I meant the bed :P

Of course, despite all this... one look at their holiday enjoyment, makes me nostalgic of my own summer vacation when life was simply the best, with mom making all the snacks and sweets beforehand, while we spend the summer dashing from our neighbour's house to our's, playing cricket with the local boys, and of course, watching our daily dose of "Mickey and Donald". Life wasn't much luxurious as compared to my kids' swimming or tennis or all these activities. But neverthless, we always wished summer was here forever. I wish the same now... until their schools start !

(PS : Now, could God make that QUICK!)