Where has the summer gone????

I cannot believe it is July 21st. The summer seems to have flown by. I remember wondering how are we were going to get through the summer and here it is almost over. So what have we been up to?

• We went to visit family in NY for a time. That was very relaxing.
• We spent a week helping sell fireworks with my husband's fireworks business. That was fun.
• We started a camp for the boys which allowed me to got back to some work. That has been great.
• We joined the health club which has a pool and we've spent lots of time there. That has been the best.

Throughout this I have learned some valuable lessons. Something I already knew but needed to re-learn at a much deeper level. I am at my best when I work hard, play hard and rest hard. When I become the "grouchy mom" it is because I am out of balance. If I do not take care or me, well let's just say "when mom's not happy, ain't nobody happy."

I have also learned to really take care of my "I" and not focus on the "R". "I" means who I am or my identity. "R" means my role. Most people get them confused, especially moms. We get lost in our "R" and for get we "I". And, if we have a bad "R" day we feel like bad people when we just had a bad day. I needed to really get that. I now I know I did. That has been the best lesson learned this summer.

So now when "I" am busy being a mom in my "R" , I am not wishing "I" was at work because I am enjoying my "R". Also, if I have a bad hair day as a mom, which happens every now and then (she says tongue in cheek) I am not devastated. "I" review what I could have done better or different in my mom role and then I move on, because "I" am still a valuable human being.

Pretty heavy stuff. Sorry for that but I needed to say it.