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Daria

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12 comments on Taking Stock: Summer 2024

Taking Stock: Summer 2024

Inspired by Kae’s summer post-mortem reflection, I felt the need to reflect on my summer.

I’ve been off work for two and a half months. Scrolling through camera roll last night shows that, in fact, this was a good summer, with a nice balance of activity and rest. And YET, my internal feeling is that I could have and should have done more. At the beginning of summer I wrote down some key terms to focus this summer: relaxing, fulfilling, adventurous, learning. Overall, I did all that so I’m not sure why I am feeling as “not enough.” When I ask myself, “what would you have done more of?” and I don’t have a definite answer. More time with T? More self-development? Therapy? Exercise? Time with friends? More books? Yes – to all of that. More, more, more… Where do I draw the line?… Is there even a line? I think my perspective may be warped.

Last day of work 06-14-24
First day of work 08-28-24

To look back on this summer, I jotted down some big and small highlights from this summer, in no particular order.

  • Started a regular yoga practice after a 5 year break
  • Finalized the will and finished the “in case of death” folder
  • Decluttered kids’ artwork and created two scrapbooks (one for each kid)
  • Went camping
  • Celebrated Father’s Day
  • Celebrated our 12 year wedding anniversary
  • Had three weeks of kid-free time at home
  • Decluttered guest room
  • Explored the Amalfi coast and Calabria
  • Had chill days by the pool and the patio
  • Brought R to jiu jitsu
  • Brought L to piano
  • Went to an amusement park
  • Went to the beach regularly
  • Saw friends a few times
  • Read six books
  • Watched some good documentaries
  • Learned two new recipes: quinoa salad and spaghetti bolognese
  • Examined my eyes and got three pairs of new glasses
One day in June.
The kitty curled up and kept me company while I decluttered kids’ artwork and papers 📝

Are you satisfied with this past summer? What would you do more of? Less of?

Daria's avatar

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Daria

Mother, teacher, partner, friend. I love coffee, books, and travel with and without kids. I dislike exercise. Nothing glamorous here but do have moments of insight.

12 responses to “Taking Stock: Summer 2024”

  1. Coco Avatar
    Coco

    I wonder why you feel you could/should have done more since you’ve done plenty. We didn’t do as much, shorter summer break from work for me than previous years but actually we are very satisfied how summer went, better than expected. mostly because it was not rushed, relaxing, being in the nature, being together in beautiful places, connect within the family, and tried new activities. Maybe because we had low expectations as we were not doing a big international trip?

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  2. Lisa’s Yarns Avatar
    Lisa’s Yarns

    I think you did SO MUCH this summer! Hopefully this post helps it sink in that you accomplished your goals for the summer and had a great season. Our summer is not that much different from the rest is the year since we are still working and the kids are in full time care. But overall I feel like we had a good summer. We had a great week at my parents and the boys had a great time up there without us. I am ready to get back into fall routines, though!!

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  3. Maya Avatar
    Maya

    Yup! You did so much this summer, and hope you feel you got enough sun, sea, and relaxation in to propel you through the school year ahead!

    I plan to use up the remaining sunny weekends recreating summer :). I can never have enough.

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  4. Michelle G. Avatar
    Michelle G.

    I think you did an amazing number of things during the summer! (But isn’t it funny how women always feel like we should accomplish more?)

    Your glasses are SO CUTE!!!

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  5. Elisabeth Avatar
    Elisabeth

    This is usually me, Daria. I understand this feeling 100%. It’s nebulous and hard to put our finger on the “why” we feel unsettled. I don’t think I’ll ever fully know myself, but this summer has been so great for me. It has been completely different than any other summer since becoming a mother and it was necessary for my mental health. Usually I have SO MUCH TIME to fill with the kids, and this year – mostly because they’re getting older – we had much bigger activities (like my daughter had 4 weeks at an overnight camp; 3 of which she was there as a helper).

    I think that in general I struggle a lot with both FOMO but also that everyone else has figured everything out. The area I struggle with this the most personally is an exercise routine. I don’t like to exercise and I feel like everyone else I know does (or maybe they don’t like exercise but they have a good routine). With my kids, it’s things like music and sports. So many of my friends have kids that are excelling in programs and my kids like lots of things, but I don’t push them to excel. I feel like I’m letting them down by not having them overachieve as kids, but then really what we’re doing is what my gut tells me to do (namely – not overfill their schedules).

    This comment is all over the place, but I hope writing out all the adventures from the summer has helped you gain perspective that you’ve lived a full and meaningful season. Other summers WILL look different, especially at the kids get older and their interests vary and practically they become more and more independent.

    Hugs! I’m so proud of all your organization for the trip and for carving out such great activities (including a return to yoga – woot, woot).

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    1. Daria Avatar
      Daria

      Thank you, Elisabeth, for your wonderful perspective. I am glad to hear I am not alone. And you are right- once I wrote out the activities, it helped validate my time this summer. Have a wonderful fall season!

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  6. J Avatar
    J

    I read a post by Tobia at Craftalicious Me today that resonated. She is taking a class, and mentioned that that will mean letting something else go. So maybe you could have done more things (though I don’t honestly know HOW, you did SO MUCH in your 2.5 months!), but it would have come at the cost of some of that quiet time that you wanted. Quiet time can be so fleeting in a busy family, especially during the school year. I’m glad you were able to maintain that. I’ve learned a lot from my husband and daughter, who are both very protective of their quiet time. It’s better for our mental health to not be go go go all of the time, I think.

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    1. Daria Avatar
      Daria

      So, so true, Julie!! I’ll check the post out for sure!

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  7. NGS Avatar
    NGS

    Since “relaxing” was one of your goals, I think if you had felt like the summer was too jam-packed or rushed, that would have been a disappointment. The mixture of planned activities and down time sounds perfect!

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    1. Daria Avatar
      Daria

      It was, so I have to work with it and put myself down over down time.

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  8. Irena Avatar
    Irena

    OMG, I looked at your list, and it sounds like such a great summer, but again, only YOU can decide if it was what you wanted/enough/made you happy. Based on all your posts, everybody in your family always seem to be so happy with the plan :))

    I can relate to the feeling of questioning our summer, and I try to turn this feeling into actionable points. I wish we could have done more camping this year, which means I have to book more camping adventures for next summer, and I just put it on a calendar for 2025. We live in Midwest, and fun activities get booked 180 days in advance, unless you are willing to drive 6+ hours to find to do something else (which we won’t :))

    Our summer was slightly different this year, because we hosted my in-laws for about 5 weeks, and had to scale back on our regular activities (like camping) to make sure they are entertained. Last time we saw them was pre-pandemic, and since they came all the way from India, it made sense for them to stay longer. My MIL loves shopping, so I was dropping her at the shopping mall every Saturday, and enjoyed my time at the Barnes & Nobles with the book :)) It was something new for me to do compared to my regular library visits. By the time they left- in the beginning of August – the weather was so hot, that camping won’t be happening until maybe we can find a couple of nights in a fall. To sum up, our summer was definitely a relaxing one, but I miss the adventures ;))

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  9. Sarah Avatar
    Sarah

    I love this reflection! Sounds like a terrific summer. I wonder if you would like a different work frame more. Like, you did a ton of work this summer with your family, as a caretaker, etc. So maybe not off work but engaged in parenting work full time or something?

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