Summer Homework Blues

Labor Day 20-14,
No need for the sun-screen,
The children are locked in their rooms,
Summer Homework equal their dooms.

I try, I really do
To tell them it's easier to
Complete it in July,
And they ask me "Why" "really, why"?

And in my wise old brain, I think,
Am I crazy? Just have a drink.
Wouldn't it be smart to finish early?
Their gaze it seems so surly.

So, they worked and played,
They partied and sat in the shade.
They went to the beach,
They ignored my speech.

I read one of their books,
It was death, sadness and crooks.
Trying to read another,
I'm trying to help, I am their mother.

No matter, I am no spark notes,
I dream of oceans, sand and floats.
I cannot recite the setting or plot of the book,
Maybe they should actually take a look.

Stupid teachers*, I curse,
Why this summer homework? I converse.
Can't our kids just work and have fun,
This summer homework will never be done!!

They need "summer reads", I declare,
This means light, fun, without a care.
No taking notes, no writing essays,
No reciting poems, no shoebox displays.

Summer AND reading should be fun,
The stress level should be none!
My poor babies, will they ever learn?
For them to love books, I truly yearn.

But once again, the days before school,
Are spent cramming, it seems awfully cruel.
One day they will learn to just get it done,
Then our Labor Day will be nothing but fun.


*Just as a disclaimer, I am a teacher. I LOVE teachers. I just don't like my kids' summer homework....

Vacation with the Curse of the Summer Reading

My goal last May was to find a house to rent in Maine for the last week of the summer. Thankfully I found one and am sitting on it's deck looking at the tide rolling into the harbor, feeling the sun on my legs.....

and listening to my daughters bitch about their summer reading.

That's right people. They are STILL doing their summer reading. The one that was assigned to them in June. School starts in 6 days. One in trying to suffer through Island of the Blue Dolphins, while the other is listening to Anne of Green Gables.

Summer reading sucks. Yes, I was a teacher. Yes, I am on the school committee, but my answer is still that assigned summer reading sucks.

Oh, I believe your kids should read during the summer. Reading all the time is fantastic! I love to read. I would hope that they will be life long learners and reading is an important component of learning.

What I do not believe in is forcing kids to read from a set list of books and making them write a paper on it during the summer.

7th grade was a little more open with picking a book and picking another book that was a medal winner. She is WHINING through the medal winner.

For 9th grade they were given the choice of 7 or so books that all had to do with triumph over tragedy. This includes rape, incest, murder, poverty etc. Why do I want my 14 year old reading Angela's Ashes? Especially during the summer when everything is fun and carefree? Yes, it is a life lesson, but seriously, she'll read it when she is interested.

And the kicker is that they have to write about these books and turn it in for their first grade of the semester, so if they don't do it, they are already digging out of the F hole.

Sorry if you live in New England, because I have put in an order for rain on Sunday and Monday so that they will be forced inside to finish this "torturous" (their word, not mine) task.

Oooooh, Those Summer Nights

The absolute best thing about living on Cape Cod is being able to head down to the beach for cocktail hour. The light is beautiful, the beach is almost empty (except for that May/December couple completely making out in front of us) and the water looks magical.

So in light of my favorite part of a summer's day, I bring you a cocktail....

Some music...

My niece who can just peek over the picinic table at almost 1 year old...

My niece again because she is so beautiful...

A seal floating aimlessly along without knowledge that there are great whites out there waiting to strike at any moment...

The first attempt at my sister's Christmas card photo (there will obviously be quite a few after this....)....

B and I posing for a photo...

B making fun of me attempting to do a handstand in someone's left over sand hole....

And a happy baby and her daddy.

What's your favorite time of the day?

Just Sit Right Back and You'll Hear a Tale...

It was my turn yesterday to see the whales that are as close as 1/2 mile off the outer beaches of Chatham! I have never been on an "official" whale watch before and this was really not official, but our purpose was to see some whales!

We boarded Matt's* fishing boat with his brother(Timmy), our sister in law(Kathryn) and their son, J. I had the Giligan's Island song in my head, but hoped that our "3 hour tour" was going to be just that: 3 hours.

Because K is a teenager, she was more concerned with looking cool and being unamused with our antics, Fritos and cold beer.

I took some pictures of the boat, because even though it smells like fish guts, some of the parts are very photogenic. This is the hauler, the machine used to pull in the nets.

This is a variety of ropes. I have no idea what they were doing there, but they were colorful.

This is the life saving device that looked as if it were 20 years old. Thankfully, we didn't need to use it. It may have disintegrated when it hit the water.

J and B were on the look out for whale tails.

K was looking off the bow. She found a jellyfish instead of a whale's tail.

B already showed you some great shots, so I will add in just a few of my own here.

Here are 2 whales side by side. You can see one blowing out it's blowhole.

Then we saw a boat on fire nearer the shore. We heard about it first on the radio when someone was getting in touch with the Coast Guard. I don't believe anyone got hurt, but I guess people on the beach could see if very clearly.

It was a beautiful, sunny day with the 70's satellite radio playing loud. Yes, J has a sweet cast on due to a trip in soccer.

B had on some sweet mirrored shades.

K was cool, but we did get her to dance a little when Michael Jackson came on.

The wake from the back of the boat was pretty cool. The girls call pictures like this my artsy-fartsy pictures.

Here we are arriving at the Chatham Fish Pier. J and B gave all the tourists a show by dancing on the fish boxes as we pulled in. I am sure a few tourists went home with the tales of the crazy fishing boat with kids on it.

All in all, a great afternoon! Whales are amazing! You can hear them blow out their blow holes a ways away. I was hoping to see some jump out of the water, but was just happy to see some tails in the end.

*Yes, Matt and I can be in the same place at the same time, but, no, we are not getting back together. Just saying.

The New Swear Word

The new swear word in our house is, dare I say it, school.

That's right.

We are not allowed to mention the word until September.

I know some of you are already back, but as I have said before (way back in 2008), we don't start school until after Labor Day. While some parents are skipping through the aisles of Staples,

we are trying to cram in a bunch of fun before the bell rings on the 7th. I will completely admit that I love having my kids home in the summer. The schedule is lighter, the days are longer and we are flexible. There is no arguing over homework, there is no figuring out how to fit dinner in among horseback riding, jump rope practice or swimming and my meeting schedule is lessened.

There is, however, summer reading. I am not really a fan of the complexities of summer reading. Read this, write pages about it, oh yeah and don't forget to enjoy it. Why can't the kids pick 3 books that they WANT to read, enjoy them and have their parents sign something that says they did actually read. It is like pulling teeth around here to finish up before the first day of school. Maybe when they get to HS, they should read specific books, but not until then.

Anyway, for the next week and a half, we will be watching lots of Phineas and Ferb, completing the dreaded summer reading, hopefully welcoming a little niece/cousin into the family, going to the beach and NOT mentioning that particular "s" word.

Summer days

Hey, don't forget to sign up for my giveaway!!! You have until Sunday. Check out the entry title "Got Vacation"!

It's been a tough week here on Cape Cod (read with much sarcasm). It's best to explain through pictures though.

Went to a pool in Brewster with friends...
B and W had some fun on Sweetheart.
I had some icecream on the beach (in a cone even!).
B and W waved Captain Dave in to port.
Captain Dave took on a big sand sucker upper boat. (It is dredging the harbor so the boats can actually get through). Captain D's boat survived.
My sister and Captain Dave made dinner one night. This will make you want to come over.

Picture removed due to my sister's urging (as in I will hunt you down if you don't take that off!)

Went to Water Wizz with the cousins and spent the whole day laughing about having to take a wizz at Water Wizz. All the cousins got temp. tattoos.

And Amy's son C was this happy I made brownies for the pool today.
Yeah, living the summer high life on Cape Cod. It's a tough job, but somebody's got to do it and it may as well be me!

Beat the Heat

I pulled a "mom" move yesterday. I kept my kid's home from school because it was too hot. I know, you might say, "Toughen up". Hey, we are in the middle of a heat wave and kids were dropping like flies at school. I thought a hot day was better spent like this.....


Yes, even DH (ok, that stands for dear husband and sometimes damn husband for you newbies out there) was not fishing and able to spend a few quality hours with the fam. (B was there too, she was just right next to me.) Notice K holding the leash of the lamb, I mean Gretel. She has a penchants for jumping overboard to enjoy the water, no matter how far out we are. Crazy warm weather for New England in June. Maybe it will last the summer?