A Summertime Memory

I love this time of year. Summer blockbusters are coming out. School is ending. Vacations that were planned in January are getting closer. I have found that the anticipation and planning of a vacation is usually more enjoyable than the actual execution of the vacation. There is so much to look forward to when you're planning: The food, the activities, and the people. When you're planning, you focus on the fun you will have. You usually don't take into consideration that the other families' kids have a low tolerance to sun, bad food, and bacteria in the wave pool. You just think, "Ooh! A water park! The kids will love being outside all day!" You don't think about the neighbor kids' problems until you're on your way home at the end of a long water-slide-filled day. The kids are sleeping in the back of the van. The sunburned neighbor kid is asleep on the back bench. Your favorite son is on the floor beneath him. As you're pulling into your driveway late at night, the queasy neighbor kid slowly sits up and mutters, "Oghughhh..." waking up your handsome son on the floor with a cascade of partially digested hot dogs, chips, Gatorade, Sprite, and powdered jelly-filled donuts. Then you pull your confused (yet extremely intelligent) son out of the van, strip off his swimsuit, and squirt him down in your front yard with the freezing water from the garden hose. Even though your son is only 9 years old and it's nighttime, he still gets embarrassed by being hosed down in the buff by his mom. You think, "Oh, he'll get over it." Guess what: I won't. I'm still afraid to walk outside at night naked. I still love you though, Mom.