Some of you all are vaxed and waxed and ready for a hot girl summer. I’m vaxed, and I shaved my legs once last week, and I’m not at all ready for another summer of having my kids in my house 24-7.
Yes, they could go to camp and maybe they will, but after more than a year of being at home with me and my husband all the time, they are reluctant to go. The younger one had separation anxiety even before the pandemic – I can’t imagine how long he will cling to my leg if I try to drop him off with a bored teenager wearing a mask and a lanyard necklace this summer.
Also, and I know this makes me a terrible person, I’m tired of a lot of the kid stuff that I enjoyed the first time around with my older child. Build a LEGO set together? It was awesome the first 17 times, but I’m kind of over it now. Read all the Harry Potter books in the series? Again, enjoyable when I did it three years ago, but you’re saying I need to do this again? How do people have lots of kids? Don’t you all get bored singing “Twinkle, Twinkle” and hanging out at Chuck E. Cheese after kid number one or two? I sure did.
Maybe this is part of the “languishing” everyone is talking about, or maybe it’s the fact that I’m coming up on the 10-year anniversary of becoming a mom, but I’m struggling to continue being the cruise director who constantly comes up with new and exciting activities. The longest I’ve held a job in my professional life is six years – 10 years is a long time to play the same role!
Here’s what it comes down to, I’ll just say it – I’m jealous. Everyone else who came out of the pandemic ready to party is able to, but not us parents of young kids. Not only did we suffer through the last 14 months of remote learning, but we still have to worry about our families’ safety and don’t necessarily trust others to do the same.
I wish I could be easy, breezy, vaxed and waxed. But instead of flirting with strangers on the beach, I’ll be building a LEGO surf hut and worrying about some anti-vaxxer breathing on my kids. No hard feelings – if you’re able, please fully enjoy your hot girl summer. Just spare a thought for those of us who can’t do the same.
