Labor Day has become one of those holidays that nobody really understands. Frankly, I don't think I was ever really TAUGHT the origins or history of the holiday. For most Americans, it's simply become a date that marks the symbolic end of summer, the time to close up summer homes, close down swimming pools, and pack the white shoes away for the winter.
I guess it's good that we have a long weekend to allow us to do all that, even though for those of us in the midwest, we're as likely to have an 85 degree day throughout September as we are to have 60 and 70 degree days.
Kids get a day off school, parents get a day off work. The federal government shuts down and the US Postal Service doesn't deliver or pick up mail.
I suppose if I'd grown up in a union family, I may have a better appreciation for the meaning of the holiday, but then again, who knows.
Clearly they're still not teaching kids the reason for the school holiday.
Yesterday The Tweenager asked if he had to empty the dishwasher on Monday, since it was Labor Day and nobody had to work.
Diva Nana told him "Sure! But then your mom doesn't have to work at all either. No cooking, no laundry, no cleaning."
When I was a kid, I went to Girl Scout Camp in the summer. I loved it, even if we only got to go for one week. Somehow, living in platform tents and using an outdoor shower and latrine were attractive when I was nine.
One summer I went to Church Camp for a week. I went with a dear friend and we had a blast. Things weren't quite as rustic as Girl Scout Camp, but still, it was CAMP.
In college, I was fortunate to live and learn vicariously through my campers as a counselor at Culver Woodcraft Camp. A program of the Culver Academies in northern Indiana, I was introduced to Woodcraft by a college friend who had attended as a child.
Although Woodcraft uses a military system of leadership, the best possible description I can offer to those unfamiliar with their programs is that it's like the summer camp on "The Parent Trap". It's a six-week residential summer camp where kids can do every activity from sailing to horseback riding to academic classes to sports and everything in between. The six summers I spent as a counselor were truly some of the best times of my life.
Although it's been 13 years since I worked at Woodcraft, I remember camp like it was yesterday, and have maintained friendships with so many of the other folks who worked there. I always thought "I'd love to be able to send my kids there some day", but quite frankly, to say a six week residential camp is not cheap would be the understatement of the century, so I'd pretty much written it off as a pipe dream.
Then last summer I took a quick trip out to camp for an impromptu reunion with some of my fellow former (and some still current!) staffers. One of them casually mentioned that I should apply for financial aid to send The Tweenager to camp.
Hmm.
Somehow it never occurred to me that all those kids at camp weren't paying full price. :)
So I applied. And when I say "I", I mean "we".
It truly was a full family process. The application for camp took significant participation from The Tweenager, and several recommendations from teachers and administrators. And the aid application rivaled any college aid application I've seen.
But in the end, it was all worth it.
This summer, The Tweenager will be spending six weeks away from home and (hopefully) loving it. He's very excited, and perhaps a bit nervous, but who wouldn't be. I never thought I could be one of "those moms", who sends her kid away for SIX WEEKS, but it's one of those experiences that simply cannot be passed up.
We'll miss him, no question. He'll get homesick, I'm sure. But in the end, he'll have opportunities that he'd never have at home. He'll meet friends from all over the world.
The Manimal has incredibly dry skin. It's been that way since he was born. I've tried so many lotions, potions and creams, that I could probably stock an entire skin care aisle with what hasn't worked.
Did you know that there are some skin lotions that contain ingredients that actually DEHYDRATE the skin? And the manufacturers KNOW about this!
In my mind, that just stinks. I mean, you buy the lotion because it's supposed to help HYDRATE your dry skin, right? Poor Manimal just scratches and scratches. In the summer, the dimply backs of his little knees get so dry and irritated that he scratches them raw.
Sasha is a bloggy friend who's got a little girl close in age to The Manimal. Wild Child has sensitive skin as well, and Sasha uses Skin MD Natural Lotion. She's doing a giveaway for a bottle of the Skin MD right now that you should go check out.
If I don't win, I may have to buy a bottle of this one to relieve The Manimal's dry skin!
I'm a learner. I generally like to know the whys and wherefores of things. I make lists and files to help me stay organized when accomplishing tasks. I love doing logic problems in those puzzle books. Pro/Con lists to help me make decisions? Yeppers.
Get the idea?
So when I awoke this morning, June 11th, to a forecast of a balmy 67 degrees here in the not-so-sunny-somewhat-Windy City area, I needed a plan to wrap my brain around this question...
WHERE IS SUMMER?
Signs that Summer has indeed arrived on the Third Coast:
Most schools are out of session.
We've instituted our Summer Flex Time at work.
We've had several beautiful 80 degree days.
We've also had our share of summer thunderstorms.
Colleges have begun their Summer 2009 terms.
The ice cream truck circulates through our neighborhood every.single.evening.
Local swimming pools are open for business.
The calendar says it's June.
Stores are stocked up on shorts, t-shirts and swim apparel.
Sweet Son #1 has mowed the yard three times already.
The local farmers' corn is 6" (or so) high.
Our first summer conference group has come and gone and we're expecting our next wave tomorrow.
New student orientation for the college class of (gasp) 2013 is taking place.
Six Flags Great America is running some serious summer discounts.
Ravinia has released their summer schedule.
Folks are talking about Taste of Chicago.
Now for the opposing viewpoint...Signs that summer is running a bit late this year:
Local swimming pools are open for business, but are pretty much empty, due to rain and unseasonably low temperatures.
OK, so perhaps we've had VERY few 80 degree days.
SS#1 wanted to wear jeans all week to summer camp.
Today SS#1 is wearing sweatpants and a fleece to summer camp.
We're more likely to need an umbrella and jacket than sunscreen and sunglasses.
The calendar says it's June 11th.
I do realize that logic would indicate that Summer has indeed arrived.
Clearly, however, logic is out to lunch.
That coupled with the fact that, according to the calendar, Summer doesn't really arrive until June 21st leads me to conclude that logic is not only out to lunch, but may have moved out of the area entirely.
I know this, because here I sit, at the computer, wearing jeans and a fleece. In June.
