Summer fun

I have decided that I'm going to have fun this summer.

This is a big step for me. Traditionally, I haven't paid much attention to summer. It's hot, sticky and sunny. Hot, sticky and sunny isn't my kind of weather. Also, I have had a tendency not to take holidays in the summer. During my "working career," I've taken holiday time during the fall when the weather is cooler. Cooler weather is my time of weather.

But I'm starting to understand why people like summer so much: there is so much to do. I can take darling daughter on walks, to the park, to the splash pad and to an outdoor pool if I so desire. I can't do any of these activities on a cool day in October.

There is a small piece of me that feels guilty for me partaking in these fun activities while dear husband works in a downtown office. I'm having fun while he isn't. However, I came to the conclusion yesterday that I would expect my day care provider to take darling daughter to the park, splash pad, outdoor pool or out on walks if I was working. So it makes absolute no sense for me to stay at home and worrying that I will have too much "fun" if I take darling daughter outside. (Yeah, you don't have to tell me that sometimes my thinking makes absolutely no sense. I am perfectly aware of this fact.) I'm starting to tell myself that life is too short for these kinds of silly worries.

A couple of weeks ago, I hosted a barbecue and invited some moms over. In the course of our conversation, one of the moms said she was talking to a friend and her friend had asked her what she was up to. When she told her friend that she was going to a barbecue with other moms, her friend was kind of jealous that she was able to go to a barbecue in the middle of a week day. While my mom friend may have felt guilty about the reaction she received from her friend, she shouldn't. Regardless if you are a stay at home parent, a parent on maternity leave, or a parent who happens to have the day off, you shouldn't feel guilty about having fun. As I pointed out to my friend, one could consider this a network lunch. Dear husband is able to go out to lunch with his friends, so why can't I? We are networking by sharing our parenting experiences, so what is the big deal? So what if we are having a barbecue on a weekday? Yes, not everyone can, but we can. Sometimes there are few fun opportunities that parents can take advantage of, so we might as well take advantage of them when we can.

So here I come summer. No more worries. I want to have fun, so bring on the sunshine!