School is out for the summer, and I’m so proud of my little guy for finishing his first year of kindergarten.
But I’m sad because this will be the first summer since he’s been born that I’m a working mom, rather than a stay-at-home-mom.
No more days of unplanned pool trips, impromptu day trips and spur of the moment beach trips with my son. He’s going to be in some sort of camp pretty much every weekday of the summer. I will be at work every day. Since I’ve only been working for a few months, I have very little vacation time built up.
I’m going to miss hanging out, just the two of us while his dad was at work. No more time spent playing pretend or visiting the aquarium or getting a snack at his favorite fast food place, with no agenda and no particular place to be.
Of course, we can still do those things on the weekends. We will be cramming in as much family fun as possible.
But the gift of slow-paced, one-on-one time with him, having fun, talking and laughing is gone, for now. I don’t regret my choice to go back to work – it makes me be a better mom. But as the weather warms up, and my boy is growing up, my heart is aching a little for the lazy days of summer.