Squeeze Play

Even though Aaron and Jada go to school all day, they've been in summer mode for several weeks now.  Life's a breeze for 7 and 5, a never-ending cycle of friends and fun and swimming and fun and food and fun and TV and fun. 

I'm not so "Tiger Mom" that I want to squelch their freedom to be kids.  But I do take umbrage when they check out mentally and become careless, irresponsible, and entitled.  Especially when Amy and I are busting our tails to make a living, tend to the house, and make sure they're OK. 

It came to a head yesterday when not just one but both of them left items of clothing behind at school.  Jada's forgetfulness led us to have to double back to the playground after we had gotten all the way home, not something I wanted to do in a dark suit on a 100-degree day.  As for Aaron, he was even more air-headed, changing his mind several times as to the whereabouts of his brand new shorts that he wore to school but was not wearing at the end of the day.

I fear those shorts are lost.  Amy lost it about this, and I lost it over the kids causing her grief.  But we lost it because of an accumulation of sloppiness, not just one incident's or even one day's worth.  We want our kids to be kids.  But we don't want them to lose their heads.  So we're going to squeeze them a little, just to make sure they understand that responsibility doesn't take a summer vacation.  Stay tuned.