Summer's Night

I'd like to make myself believe the planet Earth moves slowly... I've been singing that song, Fireflies, in my head, a little out loud too, all day today. My son, Scotty (11) loves it and has been playing it a lot. I actually am really hooked on it too. I think it is the refrain for me. "I'd like to make myself believe the planet Earth moves slowly." This is the perfect expression of how I am feeling this summer. I really want time to just slow down, for Earth to spin a little slower, so we have time to really experience and enjoy this summer. Tonight was a gift. We headed up to the pool to meet some friends. At least 5 families showed up with all of their kiddos. We all ordered pizza, and shared snacks and some drinks. The kids all played together for hours. I saw my big boys laughing hard. I saw my Ben (4) making new friends. I saw Elaina squealing and giggling with her girlfriend. They played hard, dared each other to do tricks off the diving board, had a big kids' table all set up to eat pizza together. The hours trickled along, as I watched them enjoy this nice long summer's night together. These are the times they will remember. When I recall the best moments from my childhood summers, swimming at the neighborhood pool with all of my friends and siblings till dark and riding my bike for hours top the list. Now days we can't let our kids ride their bikes off into the sunset. We have to worry about people stealing them etc. But when chances come along that lend themselves to a moment of unyielding fun and joy for the kids, we should take the opportunity and just enjoy it. And it is fun for us parents too. Not just because our friends are around to chat with, but because seeing our kids have unabashed fun is super enjoyable for us. Watching them swim and not worrying if they are "doing their best" or "winning the game" or "following the rules" is very low stress for us. This evening they were playing their hardest, but not to win, just to have fun. So, we stayed at the pool till 10, and just figured they would sleep in a little this morning. (not actually the case for a couple of my children that have inner alarm clocks set for 6am, but still, it won't kill them either.) I thank God for last night and pray we have some more summer nights like this. also I don't want to forget: -Charlie learned to float this evening in water wings. He finally picked up his feet. He kept yelling, "I float!, I float!" -Elaina asked me if she had a fat belly today. I said, "your belly is just right." She said, "well, I don't want to look fat." I began to worry that her saying that meant that she was worried about that already at age 6! But later at the pool when I found her in her tankini with the top all folded up and her whole belly sticking out without a care in the world, I decided she probably is ok. -I heard some nice music coming form the family room, and realized it was my big boys playing a guitar/piano duet with Jack singing of He's Got the Whole World in His Hands just for fun. They kept trying it over and over until they got it right. I was so proud.