Stretch your summer

If you're a parent and your child is returning to school this week, or you simply adore the summer like I do, a bit of advice:

Sometime over the course of the next few days, sit down and make a list of everything that you did to fill your summer days.

My list includes beach days. Trips to museums. Golf. Movies. Carousel rides. Lots of ice cream. A trip to Washington, DC. Evenings spent performing onstage throughout New England. A week spent teaching at Miss Porter's School. A week spent teaching at Kripalu Institute for Yoga and Health. Poetry in the Hillstead's Sunken Garden. Weddings that I DJ'ed. Couples who I married. Concerts and fireworks and dinners with friends. Baseball games and bowling and lazy afternoons spent in the backyard.  

The end of summer is a tough time for many people. It's a tough time for me. As much as I love my job, I love my summers a little bit more.

As much as a child might love school, summer vacation is often slightly more remarkable.

Parents often lament the end of lazy days with their children. 

This exercise - this listing of my summertime activities - has stretched out my summer vacation in my mind. Allowed me to reflect on all that we did. Helped me to feel good about the two months that just passed. Made it a little easier to watch summer come to a close.

I'll read this list to the kids in the next couple days. Invite them to add to the list. Share their own memories. Re-live our summer as Labor Day approaches, and with it, the chill of autumn and the return of demands and obligation.

That's okay. As I said to Charlie last night, the best thing about summer is that there's another one right around the corner.