Five years ago while attending Disney Social Media Moms, Disney executive Amy Foster, talked about 18 summers and reminded that our time with our kids is limited. 18 summers. That’s all we get with our kids before they’re off to college.
At the time, Thomas was 6 and Emily was 8 and I remember thinking that they were still little since our summers still numbered in the double digits. I breathed a sigh of relief thinking we had plenty of time left. After all, my kids were still young. Time was going quickly like all the grandmotherly ladies in the grocery store always warned it would as they admired my babies but I felt like we still had plenty of summers left.
Fast forward to the present and Thomas is 11 and Emily is 13. I’ll be the mom of two middle schoolers when school starts in September. My little kids are now adolescents who have spent more weeks away from home this summer than physically in our house as they pursue their own interests through camps and activities. I reassure myself by rationalizing this helps my kids develop independence and confidence, essential lifelong skills necessary for growing up but know their time away is also preparing me for letting go.
I feel like it was just yesterday that I was listening to Amy talk about 18 summers but suddenly my years with my kids are evaporating. When this summer ends I’m down to 7 more summers with Thomas and only 5 with Emily. Those grandmothers in the grocery store were right. Enjoy time with your kids. It goes fast.
Image courtesy of DesignYourTrust.com on Pinterest
Life DOES move fast and even though I’ve done a pretty good job of juggling work responsibilities and parenting this summer, I do need to stop and look around so I don’t miss important time with my kids before our 18 summers expire.
So in honor of one of my all-time favorite movies, I’m going to take Ferris’ advice and reclaiming summer. I’m taking the rest of August off from blogging but will still be sharing our family adventures on Instagram. As I approach the 10th anniversary of my blog, it’s refreshing to think about a vacation in honor of reclaiming summer and the time we have left before school starts.
Enjoy the rest of your August and I’ll be back here after Labor Day!
