Play - Summertime

This week we celebrate the summer solstice when there is the most daylight.  Now according to store displays and school schedules, summer has been around for about a month. No matter which calendar you go by, this is also the time of year when I most want to be a child.

Summer vacation - there was nothing like it.  The mosquitoes, the sunburn, the boredom.  No wait, wrong train of thought here.  No, I am thinking the watermelon, the lemonade,  swimming and sand castles.

I walk down the aisle at any store and see dozens of toys for the pool.  I saw these long stryofoam tubes with animal heads on it the other day.  I wanted one. No, I don't have a pool (although I am tempted to get an inflatable one for those July and August days coming up.)  But it's summer and it's a toy so I wanted it.

This is what happens to me this time of year.  I go back in time.  I get cravings for those ice pops.  You know, the sugar and syrup concoctions in the plastic tube that you stick in the freezer.  I know they have no nutritional value whatsoever but I want them. I want inflatable water toys.  I gaze lovingly at sand pails and shovels.

Think about being a child in the summer.   No homework, no classes, no heavy clothing.  You didn't have to worry about getting dirty.  In the summer, it was expected that you get dirty.  If you were one who went to camp, then there was adventure or at least arts and crafts.  There were ghost stories over an open fire.  There were smores (my latest addiction) to get gooey in your hands.  

Some countries have extended vacations for everyone, not just the school age kids.  And when you think about it, it is not a bad idea.  A break from all responsibility adds a bit of balance to the workaholic thinking our world is in now. It allows us to decompress. That helps the blood pressure and the stress level lower. Unfortunately this is not something we all can do.

So, if you are like me and regress to a child around this time of year, indulge yourself.  Buy an inflatable toy and run through the sprinkler with it. Yeah, you'd look silly but who cares.  Tell the neighbors you're testing it for a consumer survey on water resistance.  Get those ice pops and have one while you are doing the bills.  A purple tongue can make anything easier.  Go buy a pail and shovel and build a mud castle in your potting soil (remember you are supposed to get dirty).

It's summertime -- go be a kid!!

© 2017 – Cheryl Fillion