For the last month, my kids (mostly the fashion-conscious daughters) have been asking, daily, “Mom, what’s the temperature going to be today?” For the last month, the temperature has been HOT…not horrible, mid-July in Savannah hot, but above 80. Shorts and t-shirt weather. The other day, I finally said, “It’s summer. It will be summer until October. Dress for summer.” Except for that first winter we were here, seasons seem to be Summer, Not Quite Summer, and Not Quite Winter. Summer dominates.
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All that remains of the school year: editing final papers with my two oldest, a few tests that need grading and reviewing with students, two sections of a standardized tests for 3 students, and filling in bubbles for the other 8 sections of those tests that were done but the forms got ruined by water (a very sore topic here).
Then I have to do grades. I hate that part.
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My kids are very unhappy that I’ve decided they will not spend the entire summer watching TV or playing Sid Meyer’s Civilization on the computer. I know, I know: Mean Mommy. I have some specific educational assignments (math fact drills at xtramath.org: a free website, typing lessons using Keyboard Classroom, a few minutes of piano, spelling for my bad spellers, reading for my slow readers, leisure reading for all). All told, I’ll give them an hour of electronic usage for an hour of educational activity. They complained and said that it was tyranny, unfair, that they had never heard of such abusive practices in the modern Western world. I suggested that if I could find other parents who made their children do work over the summer they would agree I was right and just. They thought for a minute and then decided no, regardless of other parents’ choices for their children, they would still find school in summer terrible for them.
My sister tells me that her children need to do 2 hours of reading for 1 hour of TV/computer. I can’t wait to tell my kids how lucky they are.
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Yesterday, instead of finishing up school, I drove westerly for a few hours to have lunch with friend and blog-reader Kris. She gifted me with some tiny little pajamas for the new baby. My kids all exclaimed, “Oh! How cute!” in that special high-pitched tone reserved for babies, puppies and kittens. We’re all getting pretty excited here. Last night, I had everybody push on my abdomen where they could feel quite distinctly a hard lump that was either the head or the bottom of the baby. Poor little thing, getting beaten up before birth. I think it was the bottom end, because I felt such intense pressure on my bottom of my diaphragm…like somebody was standing on it.
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I have somebody coming on Thursday to look at our stuff and decide how long it will take to pack up and what supplies they will need. The plan is to have the movers come about a month from now to take most of our stuff and store it for a month. We’ll live in a mostly empty house for a month until the baby is born. Doesn’t that sound great?
Now I just need to find a house in Tampa that cooperates with the timeline. Oh, and the baby needs to be born no earlier than June 23rd and hopefully no later than July 4th. Outside that window, things get even more complicated than they already are.
Reit This Way 
Your scholastic tyranny inspires me, as does your pregnancy. I hope to imitate you on both counts!
Hang in there, southern friend, despite the heat. I'm assuming you crank the AC?
Would it help to tell your kids that there are actually children in the modern Western world who live without tv or computer games? They might think you super fabulous!
Thanks for the math link. My kids are sooo going to love it. Yes, I'm being very sarcastic.
I'm also loving the idea of an hour of work for an hour of tv. Yep, their going to love that too.
Whoo-hoo! Thanks for the math link! My two youngest girls really struggle with math facts and I hate for them to get rusty over the summer.
I love your sister! Tell her thank you for her reign of academic tyranny!
Oh, I hope your sweet baby cooperates!
I, too, thank you for the math link.
Are you sure you don't want to escape to Ohio to have a baby? The temps are a little cooler and we have furniture!
We also have math exercises. 😉
I can't see why a well-brought-up baby wouldn't cooperate with a schedule like that. 🙂
I hope your little tiebreaker will cooperate with your schedule! Praying for you!
(And the danger of reading the comments too fast: I thought that Margaret in Minnesota was referring to you as “southern FRIED.” Given the summer heat, that might not be inappropriate!)
Add me to the list of tyrannical parents. I require my girls to complete a set amount of school work before they're allowed to watch tv or play video games during the summer. The oldest one balks and acts like it's the worst thing in the world and in doing so makes an hour or less of work take most of the day, while my middle daughter will happily spend an hour or so doing all of the work so she can go and do what she wants. One thinks I'm horribly cruel while the other has no complaints.
I'll check out the math link. Maybe my oldest will like it better than her much despised IXL.
Hopefully the baby will cooperate and arrive at the most opportune time.
Praying that wee one cooperates with your time constraints. Logistics shouldn't be so complex!
I like the hour for hour ratio. My son will howl!
Thanks for the math link, Michelle!
This is the first time in a long time that I've followed your link from a post over at Faith and Family…and for some reason it cracked me up that I do so on the day you're talking about finding housing in Tampa. I think we know of *someone* from F&FL who'd LOVE to tell you all about FLA and how great it is! 😉
All joking aside, you'll get there. Mary rode a donkey to Bethlehem & had no idea what awaited her for housing. Take her hand & she'll help you find a home.
Wow I didn't know you were expecting!
Congrats to you!
I want to poke that baby too!
Margaret, do you consider 78 degrees cranked? I can't afford to keep it cooler. The upstairs is set at 84 until nighttime. 78 feels great when it's 90 outside.
Kimberlee, a few months ago, good friends of ours sold their TV. My kids are fine with that – for that family. If I sold the TV, there'd be mutiny!
Barbara, I really want my husband around for this birth – but thanks!
Jennie, naturally, the baby will fall in line like a good little soldier.
Steph, when are you going to get your own blog? You should. And yes, our favorite Tampa resident already tried to help me with my housing issue: funny thing, she had all sorts of great ideas for DINKs, but appropriate housing for a family of 9? Yeah, inner city Tampa with no commute doesn't have a whole lot to offer. I know what parish she goes to, and it's on my list of places to avoid, sadly. They are one of the Catholic parishes with a Boy Scout troop. 😦
Thanks, Michelle. I've toyed with the idea but I can't decide if my own blog would be more of an excuse to goof off online or a much more constructive use of my time than the blog-hopping I already do!
There's also the “where do I draw the line” re: privacy, anonymity, etc. How did you factor that in for yourself?
Btw, after some of the more mocking & cruel posts the Tampa person indulged in, I spent about 30 minutes digging around online & found out quite a bit about her. She's not as anonymous as she thinks.