It’s that time of year again. The time of year when attention spans are shorter than ever, energy levels are skyrocketing and not from an abundance of sugar, and teachers are counting down the days until the end of school as diligently as the kids are.
Me? I’m counting them down, too. Because in my house Kid 1 and Kid 2 do not get along and when summer vacation hits—it’s every Mom for herself. LOL
My kids are older now and you’d think this would mean less fighting. Noooo, not in our house. It typically means more. The dh and I have informed Kid 1 that a summer job is a requirement. So far, no luck. Not that he’s tried that hard.
As for Kid 2, summer will bring more help in the office and around the house—I hope. We’ve talked a good game and made big plans, declaring our “Summer Project” to be a full-house declutter-and-clean mission the likes of which our house has never seen. My energy is already lagging just from the thought. Any volunteers out there???
Regardless of what takes place this summer I’m sure there will be a lot of yelling, some tears, a few slammed doors, lots of laughter, too much mess, and not enough writing but we’ll all do our best. I can’t complain too much when my kids aren’t that far from college and all the noise and bickering will soon be gone for real. Just remind me of that when I'm pulling my hair out, okay?
Growing up, my older brother was the one getting a summer job to earn date money and to get out of the house. He drove an icee truck that also sold cotton candy. I loved his job. *sigh* LOL
My summer jobs were boring, usually spent working as a legal receptionist and secretary. Great experience but not much fun. And there wasn’t any cotton candy to be had.
Did you have a summer job in high school? Was it fun? Boring? Were your parents thrilled to get you out of the house and out of their hair, or did you stay home and wreak havoc on your mom’s nerves? ;)
I’ll choose a winner from those who post and you’ll win your choice of my books (If available). What were your summer vacations like?
Kay Stockham
North Star, MT series Sep 2011-Jan 2012
THE CRASH BEFORE CHRISTMAS, DEC 2011
RETURN TO EDEN, AVAILABLE NOW!
BLIND MAN'S BLUFF, FALL 2012
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26 comments:
Kay, my sisters and I used to bicker, too, but were also best friends. Teenaged siblings, huh? Can't live with them. Can't live without them ;-) We're all good friends now.
In the summers, I worked as a cashier at a large chain grocery store. I remember we used to work pretty hard and we'd be tired by the end of the day, but a bunch of us would go out together after work and have a good time. The social side made the work worthwhile. Then, I kept the job and worked part-time to put myself through college. I think it was good that we had to work, that we didn't have everything we wanted just handed to us, although I don't remember thinking that at the time! LOL
Hi Kay,
My summer job as a teen was volunteering at the library. I read stories to young children and shelved returned books.
In college, I worked at Sears in the hardware and paint department.
Love your books!!!
Kay,I'm not even going to tell you what my summer jobs were when I was in high school. Let's just say they involved such things as green beans--on the vine and pork chops in a 30 inch diameter pan.
I was so very happy to have a small child in the house when my son was younger and I am so very happy to have an independent adult son out there in the world. I guess those hormone changes are good for something.
LOL Mary, We're experiencing some of that 'thinking' right now as well. Gotta do something to change it.
Kay
Tammy, I applied to my local library but was never hired. I was so disappointed. LOL I wanted desperately to fondle books all day. Hee!
Kay
Mary, I've strung a LOT of green beans over the years. SIGH. And shucked truckloads--literally truckloads!--of corn. I think that's why I've avoided gardening during my married life. My childhood experiences definitely left an impression! LOL
Kay
Oh, boy, Kay, this brings back memories! :-) My sister and I babysat our two younger brothers--yeah, we weren't the best candidates for the job. God knows how we all survived childhood. When I was older I did some janitorial work, and waitressing at a pizza place. No especially fond memories of the work, but the gas money came in handy. Good luck this summer! I think you've won half the battle already by adjusting your expectations. Though I'm sure you'll still manage to get some writing in. At least, your readers certainly hope you do. :-)
Hi Kay, Summers in the east were such a treat. Now living in the desert, the summer is when we get cabin fever-- too hot to go outside during the day. I had at least one job every summer starting when I was 16. I taught swimming, I worked at a canoe camp in northern Ontario, I ran a playgroup for kindergartners. I worked as counter help in several delis, waitressing, housecleaning, printer's assistant, night receptionist in an ER. Jobs seemed easier to find then. My kids are working as refs for summer leagues.
We have 10 school days left. My 8th grader is going to graduate from middle school and he will have plenty of camps and activities to hopefully keep him from bugging his brother too much.
I guess it's time to think about setting up the pool or planning activities. I hate to call them play dates, since the 9 year old has a friend, who is a girl and I don't want to think about them dating. They are already attached at the hip.
Fortunately my kids are pretty good at occupying themselves. Hopefully I will get plenty of writing done without having to ship them off to grandma's.
Kathy, I'm planning to get some writing done, even if I have to run away to do it. LOL The one thing about summer vacation is that my kids usually sleep in, giving me plenty of writing time in the morning. Let's hope that stays true.
Kay
Laura, you had some interesting jobs! And I feel for you in the summer heat. We might not get the numbers you do, but we do get the humidity. Personally I'll take hot over humid any day. To quote paraphrase Scarlett--I hate being sticky! LOL
Kay
Kristina, good luck with your writing. Camp etc sounds like a great alternative. Living where we do we don't have quite so many opportunities for camps etc. We do have a tennis class etc coming up so that will help.
Kay
First, I have to say that your summer sounds a lot like mine. My kids don't fight too much, but all that time together seems to create too much "togetherness" and a fight usually breaks out...and my kids are super dramatic, so it takes my intercession to fix it.
My high school summer job was as a life gaurd. I tan naturally and by the end of summer, well, let's say most wouldn't believe I was actually Caucasian. I was a roasted, nutty brown and it didn't matter that I slathered sunscreen on myself every day and sat beneath an umbrella. Now I pray that I don't live to regret those years in the sun. But it was fun...for about two weeks. Then I hated it.
My mom worked, so summertime at our house meant mornings spent cleaning the house. Afternoons were free to do whatever I wanted to do, though, which usually consisted of hanging out with friends, listening to records, and cheerleading practice. The weather doesn't get too hot for me. I'll be outside even when it hovers around 100 degrees. I LOVE summer!
Oh lordy, my dad bought boxing gloves for my two middle brothers! I was the oldest, then my brother came a 21 1/2 months later. We got along just fine, then 4 yrs after my brother, another brother came and 2 yrs after him another brother. Brother 2 and 3 got the boxing gloves! They could not look at each other without spitting! ONce they hit high school though, they got along much better though still occasionally had rip roaring fights. Then sister number 1 came 6 yrs after my youngest brother and sister number 2 came 12 1/2 months after her. They too fought all the time until high school. Even though they fought with each other though, they'd back each other up against the outside world (or older siblings!). We all worked summers and during school because we lived on a farm. When I went to college, I got my first off the farm job and it was selling trinkets and clothes to tourists!
oops that was 12 1/2 months not 21 1/2 months later! We came in pairs!
Liz, I envy you your ability to turn nutty brown. LOL My sis and bro are like that but I took after my Irish-Scots-French side and am pigment challenged. Sounds like a fun summer job, though.
Kay
Pamela, sounds like you had your hands full if you were in charge of the house! I had a lot of cleaning chores to do while I was home so I know exactly how those summer days or weekends were spent.
Kay
Snookie, how fun! Seriously, I already envy you your island home but to sell trinkets to all the tourists just sounds like a blast. I can only imagine the stories you can tell!
Kay
I'm going to leave this open for a while to see if anyone else posts their summer jobs/stories and will pick a winner tomorrow.
To everyone who posted so far, thanks so much for dropping by and sharing your stories with me!
Kay
Hi Kay ~ My first summer job was working as a chambermaid cleaning hotels room in Waterton National Park. The next summer I worked for the same people but I worked as a waitress. Then I worked for two more summers in different places, one as a waitress and one as a drink server in a cafeteria place. Then I got married. No more summer jobs.
Oops I should qualify my drink server bit. It was coffee, tea, milk, hot chocolate, juice and pop. Also floats and milk shakes.
For Summer vacations the entire family would head to the coast. My Father was a teacher so he had the same vacation time off.
I never had a Summer job, unless you count the unpaid labour my Mother devised.
Summers were spent babysitting when 12-14, and then spent doing administrative/secretarial jobs the rest of my life (still babysitting until 18). Also volunteered by canvassing for various charities.
Fun? Not so much. Boring? A bit, but I knew that I wanted to be a secretary and eventually have my own business from home so that I could remain home to raise my children (which has worked out very well for me).
I did not get on my mother's nerves. (My brother did, and he got the strap - yes, the strap - way more often than I did. Quite the motivator - well, it, the belt, the fly swatter, and the yardstick.... My, how times have changed, eh? Thank God.) I always had the top marks in school and spent my "spare time" researching at the library, doing assignments as my own "homework" for an entire summer.
Well, it’s winter here…!
I never had a summer job because I spent my summer training 9-5, six days a week, at the Australian Ballet Centre.
I couldn’t imagine having an adolescence sane enough to include a summer free to do whatever I chose!
AND THE WINNER IS:::
LAURA RUSSELL! Laura, please contact me with your choice of books and shipping info.
Thanks for sharing your stories!
Kay
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