Summer Days Drawing Near.....

The kiddies are in their last few, literally, the last few...tomorrow and the next day, both of which are half-days. They are looking forward to summer break, but both have mentioned how sad it will be not going to school and being in class.
My little man said that he is feeling nervous about moving into 1st grade next year, he is afraid of how challenging the work will be. So we talked about what we could do over the summer to help him build his confidence, so he listed of some things he wants to work on and I told him that we will practice, but I assured him that he will do just fine and that if any ounce of me was worried about it, I would let him know. My sweet pea is vocal about any concerns and issues and sometimes I don't realize that just because my little man isn't being as vocal as his big sister doesn't mean that all is okay.
He is my shy man and reserved, so this was a great reminder to myself that I need to remember to ask questions even if he doesn't bring the issue up. I was thankful for the talk and I actually enjoy our bedtime discussions.
I believe I've mentioned before that bedtime routine use to be in our bed - the kids always wanted to hear the same books and they wanted daddy to read a story and myself to read a story, so we would all gather in our bed and read the stories. The kids would fall asleep in our bed and later in the night we would move them into their own beds. Of course, at the time, I always wondered how long were we going to be doing this bedtime routine and would they ever actually fall asleep in their own beds?
And then one night I realized that they started going to their own rooms at bedtime, wanted different stories, we talked about different things and subsequently we started the dream seeds, which I blogged about here and then it hit me, they are falling asleep in their own beds and I didn't have to enforce it or even suggest it.....holy bananas...I couldn't believe it! Sometimes they grow right before your eyes and you see it and other times, it is subtle and you don't realize it until the moment has passed. I cherish the bedtime discussions I have with each of my children now, most of the time the conversations varies from which is the better power ranger, the red or green....to deeper questions on how to handle a friend or an emotion, but regardless of how silly or serious the conversations get....I listen. And tonight, it was the excitement of summer drawing near and later bedtimes to the realization that some friends we may not see on a daily basis and a new school year brings new changes.

So, what is in store for your summer break?

"And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow in fast movies, I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer.” - F. Scott Fitzgerald