The calendar says so. My flowers say so. The plan to go strawberry picking today says so. Sammy still asleep, and Marcel playing with his trains and cars on a very weathered looking carpet says so. The extra helmet in the foyer say so. My school calendar for last year waiting to be replaced with my school calendar for next year says so. This anniversary of losing my little Dixie Dale say so. The whir of the fan, and the chirps and the swaying bird feeder says so. The crackling laughter from the foot traffic passing by the window says so. Summer is here.
It is a time for reflection and projection. Bucket lists, and to do lists. Plans and spontaneity. Watering cans, and paint cans. Swim
suits and hiking boots. Bleachers and beach chairs. Sand toys, and the constant presence of a cooler being emptied or filled up. Sports camps and peace camps, and Mama C camp. Writing. Adventuring. Laughing. Connecting. Lakes, oceans, camp sights and stolen moments alone with a keyboard, and a promise to write more. To write often.
I will be co-teaching a summer reading program once a week, and doing some contractual work for my district, along with my summer curriculum design work, and hopefully a few other writing and race in the classroom gigs will manifest too. But this all falls squarely under the part time work department in terms of hours spent.
Shrek and I are looking forward to much more time together and as a family unit too. He’s on the docket for a goodly portion of the summer travel, and many weekend get aways, and this and thats. Yes, we’re doing great. Stay tuned..
I’m working on some ideas for summer blog posts–the kind that I can spend several hours thinking about, and hopefully collaborating with some other writers on them as well. Race and child rearing, birth parent perception, the stigma of the single mother are all on the top ten list of topics I’m eager to dig into more deeply. Do you have any burning topics you’d like Mama C to address? What are you looking forward to in the coming weeks? To laughter and restoration as much as possible for you and yours!
I’m curious what trans racial adopted kids check when filling out the optional race box when applying to college. Does Chinese adopted babies check Asian? (Bad idea because it sets the bar higher to get in: http://jadeluckclub.com/category/asian-in-america/dont-id-as-asian-when-applying-to-college/)
But do adopted African American kids check African American? I’d say yes b/c it helps them get in.
But what if they live in a Caucasian family? I think the Affirmative Action program is outdated as transracial ethnicity is more and more common.
Seriously interesting questions. Let me think about how to approach and invite a dialogue on the topic here. My hope is that my son will identify as Black/ African American at that point. He clearly does now. Can a child opt to identify as they chose? Thank you for your questions–I seriously value you in the world!
Visiting from Pragmatic Mom’s Group Hug for My Mommy Blogging Tribe post. So glad I did! Sounds like you have some interesting things planned. Hope you have a great summer too! And poor little Dixie Dale. I miscarried around the same time. Just before my first scheduled ultrasound. I never would have imagined how hard a miscarriage was to go through. It affected me in a host of ways I didn’t imagine, like anger… where did that come from. I am getting sad just thinking about it. Ugh! Back to summer plans. Have a great one and I will be checking back!
Ann, thank you for sharing your story and your sadness here. Anger makes total sense to me–as a part of the grieving process–and part of the hormonal shift I imagine. Tonight I went back to that very spot, and sent her love, and light, and through some flowers from my garden into the water for her–a yearly tradition. I am so sorry for your loss, and thank you again for speaking about it here.
Wow, what a busy summer! And Pragmatic Mom raises great questions.
Sounds like a great summer lineup (with Shrek *hearts!*). I’m still knee-deep in mental OA, Bfam issues especially after I read an article about a local school supporting high school moms. ((gulp))…
Vis a vis adoption/race etc… we are always the the family that does not fit the boxes. The other day our local public radio station kept taking about ethnicity in neighbourhoods in Vancouver and I kept yelling at the radio. “We have three ethnicities in my family ALONE!” get with the program!! ” (sidenote: I do love to yell at the radio).