71 Days and Counting

Today has been the first day of summer vacation, brought to you by second grade. I avoided the tearful nostalgia I experienced on the last day of first grade by completely forgetting that it was an early dismissal day and finding Leila waiting for me on a bench outside her classroom. We went to a great pool party, a delicious dinner, and now its just the two of us. For 72 days.

I don't have this poor kid signed up for any camps or classes or swim lessons, and, if today was any indication, I better set up some playdates, pronto. We slept in, until 7:30, I did a little cleaning up (a very little cleaning up, in fact,) and we went back to school to help her teacher pack up her room. Then that got old, so we came home for lunch, and then she bothered me every five minutes. She was bothering me every five minutes for the first part of the day, too, but I hadn't worn down her patience yet, so it wasn't as irksome. I have now played several rounds of a mind numbingly boring board game, I have make ooblek (a mixture of corn starch and water that Leila informs me has "visco-elasticity") I have taken her to the neighbor's pool where we have played "mom-boat" and then I made her let me read some of my book and take a nap. My nap was infused with the sound of her latest audiobook, and ended by the sound of crunching. By the time I was fully awake, she had polished off almost a whole bag of baked cheese crunchies (Trader Joes version of cheetohs. Chase 'em with a Red Bull, and there's her dinner.)

So now I'm sitting here, hot and groggy, in my favorite outfit (bathrobe) and I'm not sure I can do this for another 71 days. Which is ironic because I have been looking forward to summer vacation since the first day of school. The next few days are going to be hella hot, too, and I never followed up on getting that air conditioning I promised myself last year. I called a guy, he came out, said my electrical system could support central air and that he'd send me a quote, and then he disappeared.

Mercifully, L is spending the night at my parents tonight, so I will have a break from the unrelenting audiobook, and the constant interruptions. Doesn't this child know that I'm on summer vacation?