Mad Dash

Life during the school year, known as hockey season in our house, is a barrage of mad dash days strung together by weekends on the road and tournament weekends out of state.  It is a ridiculously busy time from the time we leave the house in the morning until we finally get home 14 hours later.  Our careers, the kids’ schooling and their activities leave us dashing from place to place nine months out of the year.

For the last eight years, the boys have spent the summers in Minnesota with their grandparents giving mom and dad a much needed respite from the madness.  This summer, however, is different.  There is no respite.  Since we’re taking a big family trip, they’re staying in FL for the summer, so again no rest for the weary.     Okay, I can’t complain to voraciously as we’re taking a once in a life time trip to retrace our roots.  It is a trip that I cannot wait to share with my kids, my husband, my parents and the rest of our family.

It is an odd dynamic getting used to the craziness in the summer.  While my summer days and nights were once quite quiet, they are now loud and filled with silliness. I know get emergency calls at work from the boys for such emergencies as:

• Can we bathe the guinea pig?
• Why isn’t the Wi-Fi working?
• Are you bringing home McDonalds for lunch?
• Are you on your way home yet?
• Where’s the Roku remote?
• Why do I have to read?
• Why can’t The Mayor do the dishes?
• Why can’t Goalielocks vacuum the floor?

Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy to have them home. It’s just that it has thrown me off my summer routine, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.  Plus when they are gone for months every summer, I miss them terribly.   They’ll be back in Minny next summer to spend time with the family and enjoy sometime away from mom and dad and I’ll enjoy my brief respite from life’s mad dash.

P.S.  Tonight’s mad dash comprised of a quick run upstairs to watch the SpaceX rocket launch that was scrubbed for the second night in a row.