Last week I went to my kid’s school for meet-the-teacher day. The end of summer had finally arrived!

 

A couple of years ago, we went through some huge changes during summer. We moved to our current house, I started my last job, and the kid started kindergarten. Since I was working nights and trying to sleep during the day, it was a blessing that the daycare my kid first went to as a baby was right across the street from his elementary school.

 

We had our little routine. I would take all the way to his classroom every morning and of course, I would pick him up around 6 pm the end of day at daycare. It was awesome for me that daycare would get him for me. He would play with the kids, I would get him in time for dinner, some quality time together, shower and off to bed before I started work again.

 

The first year we went through the adjustment period. So many things had changed for us and we had to sort them out. I was struggling with sleeping and my stress level was just going up and up. My kid had to get used to a new routine, new teacher, two schools, and kids from different ages. We kept our Sunday thing, going to iHop and then church. To me, keeping a constant in our lives was beyond important, and Sunday was our constant.

 

It was music to my ears when I found out daycare was running summer camp. How was I supposed to keep my kid busy during the summer while I had to work nights and sleep during the day? Someone from work who was also a single mom of a boy, said she flipped her kid’s schedule over the summer so he’d be up all night while she worked from home and then asleep all day while she slept. Yeah, not going to work here. That was not going to work for us. At all.

 

Enter daycare. My kid needed, and still needs, to play with other kids;  he needs to keep learning and getting all that energy out of his system. Even if I wasn’t working, we would have driven each other crazy! Every week had a theme, they had field trips every week and swimming classes. The kid did it all. Happy kid, happy mama. I’m sure I’m not alone in thinking that kids without siblings benefit greatly from interacting with other kids.

 

Besides school and daycare, I also put him in karate. That gives him confidence, he has great self-esteem, it teaches him how to stand up to bullies and how to defend himself. Overall, I believe doing martial arts provides kids with great physical and mental strength. He had done tae kwon do for three years before, so once we got settled in this house, we started karate.

 

During the weekends, I found this organization who has different sports programs for kids on weeks and weekends. So I have Samuel rotating soccer, basketball and baseball seasons. Besides the physical benefits, it gives him the opportunity to work as a team with the rest of the kids to accomplish their goal for the day, to win the game. Fall and spring Saturdays are for soccer, winter Saturdays for basketball and summer Saturdays for baseball.

 

The kid asked if he could do summer camp at daycare, and of course I agreed. He wants to get his black belt at karate, and he’s looking forward to soccer and then basketball. Kid, I signed you up for those months ago! I know we have a busy schedule, but I feel everything in his life helps shape his character and personality. Now, don’t think I’m on the phone while he’s playing, I come over quite often to daycare to see him swim and dive in the pool. I’m an assistant teacher at karate and also working on getting my black belt. On Saturdays, I’m an involved soccer mom or basketball mom or baseball mom. He knows I’m there for and with him. I help him focus and cheer him up every step of the way.

 

The kid loved his summer camp, he loved his baseball and he loved his karate. There were times he just wanted to stay home, but then he’d change his mind and get ready to go to whatever he had to do. He’s so excited about this school year, about starting soccer soon, and about his upcoming basketball season and about his mama being there for him every step of the way. This may not last for too long, but I’m so happy I’m able to be there for him. He may not want to do any of these activities in a couple of years, but for now, I’m happy I have found all the help I need to care for my child while I’m working, and while I’m not too.

 

This summer is over, and it was great!