Thursday, May 30, 2013

Summer, how do I hate thee? Let me count the ways ...

I know some parents that absolutely love summer.  None of them have special needs kids.  Coincidence?  I think not!
 
My favorite day of the year?  Usually the first day of school in the fall.  I saw this picture on Facebook last fall and fell in love.  Obviously staged, but still hilarious.  This could so be me.  

But as it is May not August, I have to content myself with enumerating the many ways I hate summer ...

1)  The heat.  Let's face it, I am of an age where heat is a problem.  I have hot flashes in December but they are seriously uncomfortable in July. 

2)  The humidity.  I live in a very muggy location.  If you walk outside, you start dripping.  Ugh.  The old adage of "Men sweat, women perspire and dancers glow" is BS.  I sweat and so do most people I know.  It is not a pretty thing.  Nor is it fragrant and I am very olfactory in nature.

3)  The clothes.  Let's just say I have a body best viewed with clothing ON!!!  Shorts, tank tops, etc. are really not that flattering.  I look much better in jeans and a sweater.

4)  The options.  What can you do if you are cold?  Exercise, put on layers, eat (one of my favorite activities) or snuggle under blankets.  Let's face it, sleeping in the winter is so much more fun!  What can you do if you are hot?  Sit in front of fan, drink something cool, or take off clothing (see #3).

5) My hair.  I have thick, curly hair.  I frizzes less if I let it air dry.  In summer that can take a while.  And it gets hot hanging down my neck.  But if I keep it short, I resemble a Poodle.  Sigh.

6)  The hours.  Alan used to always get up with the sun and go to bed when it got dark.  This has gotten better since he has become a teen, but used to always be a big reason I hated summer.

7)  The pool.  We live very close to a neighborhood pool.  It is noisy and frequently makes traffic a nightmare.  It is also a spotlight for how my children are different.  When most people have teenagers, they do not have to take them to the pool anymore.  They also do not have to supervise them because their teenagers do not swim where they are not supposed to swim or try to climb the water slide -- yup, Alan tried to climb UP the water slide last year!  And then of course there is #3.
 
8) The yard work.  To be fair, I do as little as possible in the yard (see #1 and #2) but it keeps DH busy more than the occasional snowfall in the winter and I happen to like to spend time with my hubby in the evenings.  At least Joe is helping out in the yard more.

9)  The absence of vacation.  This might seem like a weird thing, but we took our last family vacation last summer.  Alan tried to climb over the third story balcony on to the one below and tried to swim for the horizon (he's got a real "thing" about task completion) last summer.  This forced us to make the decision that it is just too hard to take him anywhere remote anymore. The problem is that I loved family vacations.  I don't think about it in the winter, but I sure do in the summer.  And it hard.

10)  The schedule.  Autistic people (and especially children) crave routine.  Routine goes out the window in the summer.  And summer school and camps are shorter than school hours.  I also have to provide transportation to camp.  All of which give me less time for my hobbies.  Selfish, but true.

To be fair, there are some perks about summer so I have to give them their due ...

1)  The hubby.  I get to see more of him because he takes days off work to help me out.

2)  The laundry.  There is just less of it in the summer.  The boys can wear two outfits on average every day and it just doesn't take up as much room as their jeans and sweatshirts do in the winter.  The only problem is that laundry is one chore I do not mind.  Figures.

3)  The colors.  I love looking at flowers.

4)  The light.  I actually do suffer from Seasonal Affectedness Disorder a bit.

5)  The food.  I have never been much of a veggie eater, but salad and fresh fruit?  Oh yeah!  And then there is ice cream.  'Nuff said.




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