I wish I could say I’d crossed everything off of last week’s Mindful Monday to-do list, but as it so often does, life got in the way of perfection. So I’ve still got a few things to accomplish before the kids start back to school next Tuesday. And our morning routine, while greatly improved, still isn’t quite up to school-year snuff.
But all necessary forms are in order, my desk is cleaned and my calendars cross-referenced, I’ve got our bus schedules figured out and first-day-of-school-clothes picked out. All that’s left now is attending school orientation for my new kindergartener and middle-schooler Wednesday night, sorting school supplies into the correct backpacks, and working a little harder on getting everyone awake and out of bed before 8 AM.
But while we’re all looking forward to school starting (perhaps me more than anyone else) we also happen to be looking at a perfectly lovely week, weather-wise. And the summer’s not over yet. So for this week, my Mindful Monday intention:
WHO: All of us!
WHAT: Soak up these last, lazy days of summer and really appreciate our freewheeling schedule while we’ve still got it!
WHY: I love fall – and changing seasons in general – so much that it’s easy to forget that, while summer will come again, this particular summer never will. I want to soak it up – and not just the enjoyment of the laid-back summer days, but also the palpable back-to-school excitement. After all, I’ll never again have a little boy starting kindergarten for the first time. And this is my oldest son’s last year of middle school. Wow.
HOW: While checking off a to-do list seems like a rather sterile way to enjoy the season, I definitely want to make sure we get around to a few things:
- A last summery outing – perhaps a trip to the beach?
- An afternoon at the local park
- A walk around the neighborhood
- An evening cookout followed by a family movie – after all, next week we’re back to a 9 PM bedtime!
But even more important than checking off a list? Being conscious of the passing of time, and setting an intention to experience each moment as it comes.
How are you enjoying the end of summer? What is your Mindful Monday intention this week?
I love your intention to enjoy the last bits of summer. We are definitely feeling fall coming here in Colorado. We actually had rain most of the day and night yesterday. It was refreshing! My intentions for last week, to work out 2x, were a dismal failure. But I am starting anew this week. I just blogged about it, but I AM going to take my little one out on his tricycle at least 2 times this week. That is very doable, and will be done at all costs! lol
As always, thanks for the reminder. I’m focusing on this, but unfortunately, we only have today left as our last official day of summer.
We are giving it our all though, with fresh tomato salad from the garden for dinner and taking the girls out for their first fishing trip! 
At sixteen months old, Baguette is too young for the school year to signal the end of summer-and the university I work at doesn’t start classes for another month, so my life-long school-calendar-based-internal-year is off at the moment. But I’m hoping to get some more long weekend days and evenings (please, let the temperatures drop!) out of this summer. Baguette has just discovered playgrounds, where her favorite thing to do is walk up the slides, and I’d love to get her to the park for that more regularly.
Although we’re lucky that our weather is good enough for that most of the year, so I guess that’s not an indicator of season, either.
Sigh. I don’t miss shoveling snow, but I do miss more dramatic seasonal shifts. And fall colors.
Today is the best day of the summer here. I’m loving the cool breeze combined with warm sunshine. There are too few days like this each year. I’ll be celebrating the end of my summer by walking over to pick my girls up from day care, something I don’t get to do very often these days.
With homeschooling there is less back-to-school. We tend to take June, July, and December off any formal plan for lessons. We still seem to learn a lot though…
This week I am looking forward to simplifying our over-full bookshelves and making less visual and floor clutter…
I’ve been trying to spend more time outside since the weather has been gorgeous and not humid, lol. Taking my 2 yr old to the park as often as I can or walks around the neighborhood, and we’ve one more trip to the beach planned.
Hi Meagan,
Enjoying the summer really makes sense at all. Its great to hear you’re making it great too.
ditto re: summer…take my daughter to the pool every day this week and update my blog!