I wanted this summer to be about rest and relaxation for my kids.

 
They came off of a busy spring, packed with activities most evenings and weekends and I wanted the summer to be about rejuvenating and having some down time.

 
The first couple of weeks were about sleeping in and not having to follow a schedule.

 
That has somehow morphed into, “Mom, can you cut my apple? I’m too tired to lift my arms.”

 
Today one of them asked if I could just chew up the apple and spit it into their mouths, Mama-bird style.

 
My kids have gone from being over-scheduled, multi-taskers running from one thing to the next to barely being able to walk down the hall to put a lost tooth under their pillow.

 
I suggested they go for a swim in the backyard today. I reminded them I asked for a swimming pool eleven thousand five hundred, twelve times each and every summer for twenty years until I got so angry, I finally just moved out (to go to University where there was a rec centre with a pool).

 
My kids look out the window longingly but the thought of putting on a bathing suit and then having to walk down the stairs, put on sunscreen and possibly open the gate would be work so they opt instead to sit in the family room and make shapes with their breath on the windows.

 
Yesterday, I had had enough so I called for a family walk around the block.

“How far is that?” I was asked fifteen times.

 
One kid brought a bowl of Wheat Thin crackers to carry around.

 
One brought a charger for her ipad. I guess this was to ensure no one else could use the charger while we were all out of the house. That or she was planning to lasso one of the crackers from the bowl.

 
The third kid begged for a piggy back before we made it to the next driveway.

 
Maybe having a busy schedule isn’t the worst thing in the world.

 
Wheat Thins served on a charger might be.