So Monday wasn't the last day of school. Yesterday was the last day of school. Whatever. Both girls had final messages from their teachers and that's a wrap. I did manage to do first-and-last-day pictures, because I want to keep my parenting license, but nothing else about this end of the school year feels normal. We're sliding into a new phase that seems pretty much how things have seemed for a while now.
But the kids feel summer freedom. Yesterday they swam for much of the day. They were snorkeling in the pool--searching for some rings they'd thrown in--and were completely silent. This is a stark difference from their usual pooltime, which is pretty much constant screams and loud shrieks. Today they played in the basement and swam, and then spent a good chunk of lunchtime outside on a picnic blanket, eating lunch and reading Fox Trots together and then playing Mastermind. It was super cute and quintessential summer. I revamped their Bonus Books baskets, and they both chose a book and spent a couple hours reading this afternoon.
These initial days of summer usually feel like such a shock to the system. All that time in a day. We'll make the most of it.
Andrew and I are continuing our intense house cleanout. We finished the crawl space and the kitchen in the basement, and last night we moved on to one of the attic rooms. We're making progress. We've sold or given away almost everything. The rest will be donated. But our work is far, far, far from done. Tonight is more attic work. Then there are closets and bureaus and the kids' rooms. Then the garage. There is SO MUCH STUFF. And this is coming from a person who likes having a lot of stuff around. The things we're finding are just--not needed. Things we haven't used for years, sometimes 10+ years. Low-hanging fruit. Nothing hard to part with, really. We're making more space for the things we have.
It's probably for the best that there will be no giant rummage sales this summer. This cleaning out is kind of an undoing of the past seven summers of suburban rummage sales. I take full responsibility.
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| First and last day of 4th grade |
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| First and last day of 2nd grade |
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| If you look closely into the yard, you can see the girls reading Fox Trots on a blanket. |
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