Just to lower your expectations: Although this is long, this is not the post of the century. 

I have had a hectic summer.  I continue to be amazed at how people who have many children do all the things that must be done.  I can’t figure it out.  Taking care of three children seems like an all-consuming task to me most days. 

Brief description of summer 2010:

Noorda Theatre Camp for kids–driving to Utah Valley University  every day in June.  I found a new, better route for getting there.  I am always astonished when this happens.  It seems that I tend to pick very slow ways of getting places and then after driving that route for two or three years, suddenly: duh!  There is a much better way of getting there!

Anyway, although there is room for improvement, I would strongly recommend the Noorda Theatre Camp–lots of classes to choose from and some good opportunities.  I took a Mommy & Me dance class with Kate from Mary Linda Thomas.  What a master teacher!  She was a treat.  Amelia played Miss Fern in _Super Student and the Case of the Water Pistol_ and her acting abilities seemed to expand considerably.   I enjoyed seeing her portray an adult.  We discovered that her hair looks beautiful in a bun and (with great difficulty) she learned to walk and even skip! in high heels.   

Duncan went to an art camp sponsored by UVU continuing ed and that also was an outstanding opportunity.  This camp was a little more art-centered than play-centered than the SCERA art camp he has attended in the past.  Both are good for a child like Duncan–I wouldn’t hesitate to send him to either of them again, but they have different strengths.  

Another thing Duncan did this summer was the whole daily study ritual with mom (me).  He begged for a summer bridge enrichment book at the beginning of the summer, but when I soon came to realize that he couldn’t write his numbers properly, the fun summer bridge book went out the window, and we settled into drills, drills and more drills: practicing writing the numbers every day.  How can you do math if you can’t write your numbers properly?

I am a failure as a summer homeschooler.  I regret it, but I am just not a fun mom.  I am not a fun teacher either.  I make learning feel like work.  I don’t know what to do about that.  That doesn’t make for the funnest summer.  However, I will say that I was thrilled when I saw that one of the first things they did in Duncan’s first grade class was to write their numbers 1-50.  I am confident that he could not have done that at the beginning of the summer.  Also, I know that he reads much better now at the end of the summer than at the beginning.  I just wish I could figure out how to attain this progress while being the fun, nice mom, not the boring, strict, do-this-or-else Mom. 

July was the month of our big family vacation.  Since we had already indulged in a nice Disneyland vacation over spring break, we decided to stick closer to home on this one.  We became Salt Lake City tourists and bought 3 day  SLC Connect passes (what a great bargain!).  We rented a condo in Salt Lake City (another bargain, summer is the off-season!) and spent the week there.  If you are local (well, even if you aren’t), I recommend this.  We had an awesome time and did all the Salt Lake things we usually don’t do, even though we live close by.  As is the norm for Pmom-planned vacations, it was a little exhausting.  We went to the Beehive house, we ate at the Lion House pantry, we went to the Salt Lake City Library and the Natural History Museum, we saw a show at the Hansen planetarium, spent most of a day at Discovery Gateway, went to the Hogle Zoo and the Tracy Aviary, toured Temple Square, enjoyed half of a free concert at Abravanel Hall (only half thanks to Duncan and Kate)  attended the Farmer’s market, saw the Living Planet aquarium, rode the tram at Snowbird, ate at two outstanding gelato places, had mediocre Thai, Indian, and didn’t-live-up-to-the-hype belgian waffles.  We also watched Harry Potter Movies and “It’s Me or the Dog” (Duncan’s 5 star favorite) back at the condo.  Several evenings closed with bowling on the Wii (our kind sister-in-law lent it for the trip). 

We had also planned to stay in Park City, but learned the hard way that in Park City you must ask if your lodging of interest features air conditioning.  July was very hot and we wanted air conditioning.  It isn’t a featured amenity for skiiers, though, so you have to check; we didn’t.  Thankfully, we escaped from that situation and went home and slept in our wonderful beds with good air conditioning.  It felt like our trip had been cut short though, so we decided to do some last minute camping. 

May I offer some advice?  If you are the sort of wimpy family that can’t stay in Park City because of the lack of air conditioning, do not suppose that camping in Hope Campground during July will necessarily be an appropriate  alternative.   It is cheaper than paying to be hot in Park City, but you will still be hot.   Hope is very convenient because it is nearby and chances are won’t need a reservation.  But did you stop to consider why?  The problem is, Hope is nearby–it isn’t high up in the mountains.  This means that your camping nightmares of waking up as an icicle won’t come true, but if it hot in Orem it will be hot at Hope.  And while you may have air conditioning in Orem, you won’t have it at Hope.  Consider wisely–are you up for it?  Or are you up for wimpy camping where you watch movies in the air-conditioned dollar theater and eat in air-conditioned restaurants by day and simply sleep at the campground by night?  Can you handle the embarrassment?           

The first two weeks of August were painful, because Amelia went to her school district’s camp for a week, and then after only a day or two at home, she went to Girl Scout camp.  Being her mother, it is my job to worry about her ceaselessly, and let me tell you, I excel.  *Especially* when she is gone for two weeks.  It was painful.  However, she came back all in one piece, in pretty good spirits, knowing many more camp songs than before–so all’s well that ends well, I hope.  I won’t let consecutive camps happen again, though.  I learned my lesson.   

My brother was in Afghanistan for many months this year, so his wife and daughters came to visit us for a few days and then we met up with them again after his return to the States.  We had a big family reunion to celebrate his safe return, his brief presence in Utah, and his daughter’s baptism.  Wonderful.  The only bummer was, I put in a lot of work and worry on coordinating a whole family picture (since some of us are only in Utah every few years) and it didn’t turn out that well.  You get what you pay for, I guess, and besides, sometimes you just get unlucky.  Large group photos are notoriously tricky.  That doesn’t stop me from wishing for a good one, though.   

The week after the reunion we went camping with some of the cousins at Timpooneke.  Wow.  That is a great campground.  No wonder you need to make reservations in advance.  I would definitely camp there again.  The camp sites were spacious and well-equipped, the trees and other surroundings were beautiful.  I was well-pleased.  The kids had a great time playing with their long lost cousins.  Kate now asks me, on average once a day, “when can we go camping?”  She can’t seem to believe that the true answer is: “Next year, at the earliest!”

P.S., If you don’t have access to the Orem Costco, you may be out of luck.  Apparently, they have installed gelato counters in only a handful of stores so far; the Orem store is a test market.

I don’t want a tax cut.   The American tax burden is at the lowest rate it’s been in years. There are services I want from my government: lower class sizes, better transit, and more people with healthcare, and I am willing to pay for them.  What I don’t want to see is an increase in the debt. 

I don’t want you to promise to repeal Obamacare.  This may be judgmental, but when I hear someone mention “Obamacare,” I wonder if the person has thought through these issues. To me, the term “Obamacare” suggests the worst of talk radio, punditry, hype, politics for politics sake, perhaps even hatred.  Also, the term “Obamacare” is misleading. Healthcare is not Obama’s baby.  There were a lot of us who believed something had to be done about healthcare long before Obama came along. I am not happy with the healthcare reform that passed Congress, but I don’t believe the solution is to get government out of healthcare. The solution is for us to demand that our representatives structure our government’s involvement better.

Although I consider myself conservative, I don’t want my representative to be the conservative voice on every issue every time. Conservative is not a synonym for right or good. I want my representative to make the best possible decision every time. I want her to be a voice for what is right, for what is good, for the powerful and for the powerless. If these decisions and opportunities  coincide with conservatism, then great. If something else, then great. The label isn’t important, the thinking is.

I do want a simpler tax code.  For the most part, government should avoid behavioral engineering. However, although a national sales tax would be simple, it would also be regressive. The wealthiest Americans currently bear the largest part of the tax burden by far, and it should stay that way.  

I do want lower debt.  It is wrong to sell our children into bondage tomorrow to pay for the governmental largesse we enjoy today.  Every spending and taxing decision must be measured against this yardstick.  There aren’t many things we can afford to do on borrowed money. 

I do want a representative who understands where money comes from.  Government agencies don’t grow the economy, businesses do.  Business is not the enemy.  Business is not a necessary evil.  Business is the source of the nation’s economic power.

I threw away three bars of cream cheese yesterday. I feel guilty. Indulge me in my explanation:

My cumulative efforts to be healthy are rather modest. But I do try to avoid buying desserts that I could make myself–no packaged cookies or cakes, and no cheesecake. Cheesecake–you know the one. The large round cheesecake that Costco stacks in the refrigerated case by the dozen. The one I must pass on my way to buy milk. The one that calls my name. The one with the tempting little cut marks that suggest that one could somehow limit oneself to just one narrow slice. Thinking about it makes me want to go shopping RIGHT NOW. But here’s the thing: I don’t buy it. Because every time I pass those big plastic domes and glance at the fatty goodness within, I offer stern self-remonstrations: there is cream cheese at home! It’s just getting old in the fridge! If you want cheesecake, make your own! Do it homemade. I tear myself away and head to the milk room, safe for the moment, but destined to return soon to face the cheesecake again. Having a goodly supply of cream cheese in my refrigerator (it lasts for months!) helps me through it.

What do you say?

Last night I saw you yelling at the people who didn’t immediately stand.  You hollered in their faces without hesitation.  Your tone wasn’t remonstrative, it was hateful.  Your shrieking distracted my attention from the flag to your own distorted visage.  Even my wheelchair bound neighbor was harangued.  (I assume in your haste you didn’t notice the chair?).  I ask: will your behavior likely increase the respect and honor these spectators feel for and show to the flag?  Unlikely. 

If you are a parent, teach your children how you feel about the flag by word and deed.  If you have the opportunity to teach other people’s children, tell them about the flag code and why it is important to you.  If your group would like to issue a gentle general reminder that the flag is coming and then review expected conduct, that could be helpful.  Your example and a whispered reminder to  your neighbor might also be helpful.  I know one thing: hatred and coercion won’t be.  Honor isn’t birthed from that cradle.

Polacco’s books are wonderful for reading with elementary school children and on one’s own.  Polacco is prolific and both writes and illustrates her books.  She is one of the rare authors who are able to do both extremely well.  Her stories (many based on her own childhood) are oh-so-human, so engaging, so interesting, so ready to transport you to a different place and time.  As for her illustrations–well, facial expressions have never been so well captured.  (Intriguingly, Polacco earned a PhD in art history and is an expert on Russian iconography–but her pictures are earthy and achingly real, her texts down to earth and accessible).  Some of my favorite titles are Thank you, Mr. Falker,  Just Plain Fancy , Chicken Sunday, and The Keeping Quilt. 

After forgetting about Polacco for a while, just last week my love of her work was renewed by a title I’d never seen before: Rotten Richie and the Ultimate Dare, a partly (mostly?) true story of a conflict with her brother and how it all ended happily ever after.  Since sibling contention is an ongoing issue in our home, and I’m always hoping and looking forward to the day that my children can write their own happily ever after endings, I just adored this book.  Check it out!

P.S., Already familiar with Polacco?  What are your favorite titles?