School's out for the Summer

It’s official.  Everywhere you look signs are evident that the school year has come to an end. Whether it be the annual Memorial Day parade, First Friday’s, local parks and swimming pools filled with smiling kids, recreations leagues, local sports and church camps, or annual dance recitals, Summer is here.

Summer has always been a provider of great memories to many fathers.  From playing pitch and catch in the backyard with your first baseball mitt, to mowing the lawn a fathers impact has a lasting impression, a summer of learning if you will.  

As summer officially kicks off, it made me think of the unique opportunities that summer seems to allow.  Obviously, days are longer and there seems to be more opportunities to be active.  With the longer days and more daylight, naturally we also spend more time outside.  Without the pressures of completing homework assignments and studying for tests, summer just seems to have a different pace.  With the extra time and hours, families also seemed to spend more time together.  Whether it be time spent completing tasks such as mowing the yard, possibly baling the hay and repairing your own car, to more enjoyable times of playing double-or-nothing wiffle ball and hide and seek, summer days seem to last forever.  

Growing up, summer allowed time to complete my necessary chores and yet, leave plenty of time to play.  As a kid, other than in house chores and outside work duties, I was outside until dark nightly.  Summer allowed me to spend the most time with not only my friends but also my father.  I understand that working  in education field, that my daily schedule may allow for greater opportunities to spend time at home, however my dads work dynamics as a truck driver did not allow for such luxury.  Even though his work times did not change, we seemed to seem him more, as he seemed to be around more, and more involved.  Looking back now, I think it makes sense as my dad still arrived home roughly around 4:00, spent some time with us, maybe sacrificing some sleep to watch a few innings of our baseball games, ate, showered and went to bed only to arise about 10:00 to be on the road again.  The difference was, without school in session we were actually awake we he awoke, and headed back to work, meaning we had another opportunity to interact and see him.  Summer also meant, that we were allowed to go on the road with my dad a few times.  It was really neat to see my dad perform his job, and realize that he was  not just a truck driver, but that he was an incredibly talented one that was known and  respected at every stop we made.  I really had no idea, and admittedly did not appreciate what my father did as much as I should have.

Without a doubt, one of the most enjoyable summer activities we had was the neighborhood game of hide-and-seek.  This game incorporated the entire northern end of town, including the adults, and spanned out over four yards.  One of the  things my family really enjoys to discuss when we get together are these times.  In particular we marvel at the fact that our dad was probably the best player in the neighborhood, considering that he should have been without a doubt the easiest to find.  After all, how easy is it to hide when you stand 6’3 and weigh 300 pounds! However remarkably, he more often than not was able to flash a big grin when the call of, “all-y, all-y in free” had the players not found to come out from hiding to start a new game.  It was often that this mountainous of a man would hide motionless inside of bushes, or lay lifeless on a gravel drive under a car!  

Summertime was filed with sun up to sun down activity, we didn’t seem to have a care in the world.  In fact,  time seemed to stand still as we went on long bike rides, played ball and had to be called inside when it was so dark we could no longer see.  I say all of this to remind us all of that feeling when we were kids and school being out for the summer.  I say all of this to encourage all of us as dads to get and stay active this summer with our kids!  To quote my favorite country music performer Kenny Chesney, from his hit song Summertime:

School's out and the nights roll in

Man, just like a long lost friend

You ain't seen in a while

And can't help but smile

Happy Summer!

Monthly Challenge: Sit down with your children and discuss what you enjoyed the most about school being out for the summer when you were a kid.  Be sure to include what special times your father spent with you.  

Monthly Quote:  Summertime is always the best of what might be. - Charles Bowden, American author and journalist