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Every Little Thing by April Jeppson

Happy middle of July!

That’s wild to me. I think this is the time of year where I panic for a moment and realize that I need to grab summer by the horns and start being purposeful with my weekends. I’m aware that I have to plan out my days if I want to get the important stuff done. However, it hasn’t quite sunk in that this is also true for my weekends.

When I was growing up there were a limited number of camps and special events for youth. So when swimming lessons were offered at the lake, we all took them.

When the school offered basketball or volleyball camp, we were all there. Thirty years ago there weren’t as many options as we have today.
I did, however, have a wiffle ball-obsessed brother.

Jesse is five years older than me. He loves baseball and structure. He would wake me up during the summer so that we could get our chores done and play wiffle ball before it got too hot out. He marked off our yard so that everything was the official distance. Even our fence had numbers on it to signify how far away it was from the batter’s plate.

I think one of my favorite things about summer was that I could sleep in and watch copious amounts of TV if I wanted to. “Saved by the Bell” and “Fresh Prince” and various cartoons were my preferred way to waste away the summer hours. We didn’t have air conditioning so on those afternoons where it got really hot, laying on the couch was about all I wanted to do.

So now I’m back to thinking about my children. They each get about a week where they stay with my folks. No siblings or parents, just some good ol’ fashion time with grandparents. They look forward to it every year. Currently we have my husband’s parents visiting us, so they are getting extra spoiled as I type. I think they’ll be going to the museum today and then tomorrow we’re going to visit a nearby zoo.

So maybe it’s less about my kids (because as far as I see it, they have it made), and more about making sure I carve out time to do the fun stuff with them. What do I want to do this summer? Where do I want to visit? More importantly, what do I want to eat?

I can tell you right now that I need to incorporate more ice cream into the next six weeks. Alright folks, that’s it. That’s my first goal. I will find a way to enjoy ice cream with my family this weekend. I’ll report back and let you know how this very important mission went.

Albert Lean April Jeppson is a wife, mom, coach and encourager of dreams. Her column appears every Saturday.