Recess

It seems that I will have to find a different routine for the summer. Our six am wake up has shifted to seven thirty or later. I'd like to get my blog post up by 8:30 am at the latest, but it is clearly just not happening.  It's time to find a Summer schedule that works for me.

Summer is the time for trying new things at our house. Today I will be attempting to make kale chips with the kale from our CSA share. Having a CSA share is new for us, too. We're splitting it up with older daughter Alice. She'll be coming over today to fancify Margo's hair with henna streaks--quite the Summer adventure. If we can keep the kale separate from the henna, all will be well.

My husband treasures his summers for the time to pursue music playing and composing. All the instruments get pulled out. He watches the Orioles while practicing guitar, banjo, ukulele, harp, mandolin. Oh, and the banjolele. Did you even know there was such a thing? One year he was practicing tuba for a show in Towson and the Orioles games were pretty exciting at our house.

And if you think "sad trombone" sounds sad? 

Last summer we joined Lifetime Fitness together, and it worked for awhile until school knocked us out of whack in the Fall. We're trying it again this Summer, with Margo now old enough to try the upstairs activities with us. Her excitement is good for the rest of us. (I could use some extra enthusiasm when it comes to exercise.) And of course that means pool dates with Alice and George. I have plenty of enthusiasm for those, although I wish Lifetime had more shade structures.

What do I do in the Summer? Well, I craft. I try new crazy craft ideas, often blending recyclables with materials from my craft stash. I bought a boatload of costume jewelry at the Abiding Savior Flea Market, so I'm thinking that will figure in this year's creations. I'm going to have a table at this year's Oakland Mills Cultural Arts Festival, selling fun, cute items for five dollars and under. Mostly dollar stuff. Target audience? Kids and teens who can't afford to buy anything from the professional, artisan-vendors. We don't have much for them. I'm also going to do a raffle for a barrel-full of craft supplies. That was Margo's idea, and you'll be hearing more about that here as the time approaches.

In the Summer I brainstorm activities for my early childhood special needs music and movement classes. I'm always looking for new music, new hands-on materials, and new picture books that go with songs. Often, I make my own picture books using scrapbook albums and printouts from the computer. I have been experimenting with creating iPad picture books as well. I have done a few using the slideshow function, accompanied by songs, with mixed success. Slideshows don't count musical beats or wait for key words, which is important to me. I have an idea for a "Wake Up" book that has been percolating all through the past school year....

Summer. Recharging. Recess. Absolutely vital. Teachers and students alike must be creators. We can't create if the well runs dry. This is how we recharge. How do you "fill your well"?