Farewell to summer.

By the time Labor Day weekend rolls around most kids have returned to school, families have taken their final summer vacation, and in northern climates men are breathing a communal sigh of relief that the lawn mower will soon be stored for the winter. For many, this long weekend is the last big hurrah before we bid adieu to summer.

As you take a moment to nostalgically reflect on your warm weather escapades, how would you rate your summer? I have provided a scoring system below to make things simple:

1 = My summer was nothing special. I passed the time in my cubicle at work as I would any other time of the year. The highlight was trying the latest lunch options from Lean Cuisine.

2 = My summer was okay. I tried to start a backyard garden, but fell into a patch of poison oak. After two weeks of impersonating the Pink Panther, covered in calamine lotion, I rejoined the human race. I salvaged the summer by planning some weekend outings with friends and family, keeping my distance from all things leafy and green.

3 = My summer was good. I took a few long weekends from work and spent lots of quality time with family and friends. I expanded my horizons by signing up for a Hip Hop dance class. It probably would have been more fun if the mean age in the group was greater than ten. I have concluded that there might be better ways to recapture my youth.

4 = My summer was excellent! I took six weeks of much needed vacation time, got everything done on my adventure check-list, and became honorary spokesperson for Jose Cuervo. I even had time to get some projects done around the house. I never knew the satisfaction of a job well done before mastering the art of delegation from a pool floaty.

5 = My summer was off the charts, the best ever!!! I spent three months sailing around the Hawaiian islands. I blogged my adventures on the high seas and was offered a book deal when I got home. My advance was substantial, so I have decided to quit my job to repeat the experience. Who knew blogging could be so much fun!

If you could have done it better or know that you did it with flair, I would love to have you share your summer fun by leaving a comment below. Like any other time of the year, summertime is what you make it, and luckily do-overs come around once a year.

Thanks for reading and be well.

The inherent purpose of the middle child.

I have another reader to thank for today’s post on the middle child. We seem to share the desire to care for our parents in their elderly years. Please allow me to preface this tongue and cheek post by stating that I will be honored to care for my parents someday, as they have so beautifully, graciously and generously cared for me (and still are). Having gotten that out of the way, let me say that the middle child is the backup plan in the family. I will explain what I mean by that.

There seems to be an inherent purpose, or survival instinct among propagating parents to have three or more children. This strategic planning provides long term care protection in the event of worst-case scenarios. The oldest child can often be a controlling, Type-A personality, who, if left to his or her own devices might end up incapacitated with hypertension from a fast, stress-filled lifestyle. Therefore parents may have to count the oldest child out of the potential care giver role. Next, you have the youngest child. Many parents refer to the baby of the family as the wild child, free spirit, or blaze-your-own-trail type. In this worst-case scenario, the youngest may have joined a commune in the desert or moved to Botswana to teach orphans to read. So perhaps parents shouldn’t rely on the baby of the family. The only logical solution is to have at least three children to produce a middle child, a.k.a., the backup kid.

The middle child is the safe bet, as he/she is usually the easy going type. They are hard-working but not too serious or too wild. Like the story of Goldilock’s and the Three Bears, the appropriate choice for future caregiver is the middle child, who is just right. In my family, my parents created a backup for the backup by having four children. They like to plan ahead and have successfully covered all their bases. Truth be told, they will probably be sorry one day for having so many of us, as we will all want to be there for them in every way they need and may possibly drive them crazy with all the attention. So if you are a parent and planning for your long term care, be sure to have your backup kid in position just in case.

Thank you for reading and be well.

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