10 Things I Hate About Summer

I love summer,  I really do.  I love that my kids are off school.  I love camping, warm weather, hiking, grilling and tubing.   But, as my kids' last day of school approaches, I find myself dwelling on the things I hate about summer.

1.  FIGHTING:

While summer vacation means I don't have to fight with the kids about doing their homework, it also means they have endless amounts of downtime to fight with each other.  And they are very, very good at it.

2.  MESSES:

Because the kids are home all day, it means more of their stuff will be strewn all over the house.  And even though they "know" to pick it up, they won't without me repeatedly nagging them.  I don't get it, it's like they love to hear me nag them or something.

3.  STARVING:

How is it possible that the kitchen is a disaster when "there's nothing to eat" in the fridge?  Where does all this food go then?  Why are there dirty plates everywhere?  And how do I account for this Costco sized food bill?

4.  BOREDOM:

The kids see summer as free time.  So, they are reluctant to schedule and commit to anything before June.  But I know within a week they'll be bored with nothing to do.  But, they still haven't picked up that mess that I've nagged them about 100x now.  Because that's something, not nothing.

5.  MANDATORY FUN:

Because they're bored and whiny, I will institute mandatory fun and force them to do horrible inhumane things like go to the pool.  Or *gasp* the library.  They'll exact their revenge by whining.  Which makes mandatory fun not very much fun at all.

6.  SUNSCREEN:

Even though my kids are teens and not toddlers, they still can't seem to remember to sunscreen themselves.  Or do it by themselves.  When do they learn sunscreen self sufficiency?  Is it a college course?

7.  DRIVING:

While they can't remember the most basic of things,  they can do very adult things like drive a car.  Well, not all of them.  Which means I'm in limbo between chauffeuring and sharing the car with a teenage driver who doesn't put gas in it and readjusts all the mirrors.   Which I forget until I go to change lanes. Every.  Single.  Time.

8.  SLEEP CYCLE:

My kids are on teenager time.  They like to go to bed late and then sleep in.  My husband and I are on geriatric time.  We can't sleep after the sun comes up and we fade when the sun goes down.  Which makes it near impossible to make sure the kids aren't sneaking out at night.

9.   TOWEL STANK:

If you don't spread out the towel, it won't dry.  But it will create a stink that is best referred to as stank.  It doesn't matter if that towel is in the bathroom or the pool bag.  Every towel needs to be properly aerated.  Every.  Single.  Time.

10.  IT'S OVER:

And this is by far the worst one.  Because then it's back to school.  And hounding them about school work and hoping someday they'll get into college.  And worrying about how to pay for college.  Then reminiscing about all the summers gone by.  Maybe summer is just too short...