66 Days

Back in June, Sam was gobsmacked to learn that he had sixty-six days of summer vacation stretching out before him — that he’d be staying home to play or going to Carter & Anabel’s nearly every single day of July and August. Instead of logging long weeks in the child care centre, he’d pop in on Thursdays to partake of a field trip, a swim at the community pool or some other special event. I’m sure it was hard for him to fathom: Sam’s been spending close to 50 hours a week at Carleton Heights since he was three and a half. But this summer, there’s Arlene.

Arlene is Tracey’s live-in nanny, caregiver to her kids since last September and key to Sam’s summer break. Twice a week, she and the kids have been coming over to spend the day in our backyard, and twice a week we’ve been dropping Sam to spend the day in the parks near Tracey’s. The boys usually disappear into some imaginary pirate world, surfacing only for food. So most days it’s been a relief rather than a burden to her (I hope) to have Sam around to occupy Carter while she keeps up with the mischevious Anabel. Other days? Well, yes, there have been a some squabbles—but nothing so serious that the separated “brothers” aren’t begging to be reunited within 20 minutes.

This has been a summer in the sandbox, on the swing, in the “woods” and out in the parks. A summer of fresh-cooked lunches at the kitchen table instead of cold packed lunches in Room 5. A summer of waking up late and staying in jammies if that’s what Sam wants — no hurry up and where are your shoes and grab your knapsack, we gotta get going. A summer when “gross motor play,” and “drama time,” and “reading readiness,” and “tactile activity” aren’t predetermined by ECE staff, but rather unfold naturally in the simple course of solving a playground mystery.

Those are the summer breaks Jeremy and I remember, and we’re so happy Sam had a chance to experience the spontaneity, the self-direction, and the focused laziness of it all. It’ll be tough for him to re-adjust to the long, structured days at school, I’m sure. And we’ll have to skew his bedtime back towards 8:00, now that sleep-ins or sleepy days aren’t an option. Toughest of all, Sam’ll miss Carter when their play time is cut back to routine Saturdays and one, maybe two, short evenings during the week. But a summer break enjoyed makes all that “back to school” stuff worth it.

60 days down. 6 to go. Have fun, Bunny.