Weekly Thread: August? Already?
August is weird. Let's talk. Plus: Can your kids handle your feelings?
August is a very different beast depending on where you live. Here in New York, we have another month of summer left. My family hasn’t even taken our big summer vacation yet. Yet I still feel a sense of impending fall dread, which makes it hard for me to enjoy these last summer days. Others of you (*waves to friends in Atlanta*) are ALREADY BACK TO SCHOOL, which is just… well, I’m sorry. But also, part of me is strangely jealous.
Truth be told, I have mixed feelings about summer. To be clear, I’ve had a lovely summer so far. But there’s something about the mismatch of expectations and reality that sometimes sours my experience of it. I feel like it’s supposed to be a carefree floaty time where we sit at beaches all day, but rarely is it that.
Among other things, it’s the time of year when primary caregivers (mostly moms) deal with a WHOLE FRIGGING LOT of mental labor getting their kids ready for camp, preparing for and managing family travel, dealing with difficult kid transitions, entertaining uncamped children, and … yeah. It’s intense.
So today let’s do more of an open-style thread where you can talk about whatever’s on your mind. Vent if you need! Share details of your glorious vacation! I’m here for all of it! Including, apparently, all the exclamation points!
Should You Never Tell Your Kids They Make You Sad?
Today I’m commenting on this Instagram post from responsive_parenting, which has nearly 4000 likes:
Here are my thoughts.