Summertime And The Kids Are Home

Dorothy (my wife) and I had to organize ourselves during summers because we had eight children and they were all home from school and needed something other than the freedom to lay around and do nothing. We decided that we could find some work for them to do, practice the piano, and read or do other learning activities. These had to be done before anyone could leave to play with friends. Just to supply some order to such a big gang we met each week to discuss how we all had done and this gave us a chance to reinforce good things and encourage those who lagged a little. One year we asked our children what fun things they would like to do during the summer and we all added our ideas to create a pretty full schedule of something fun each week. We had pie eating contests, obstacle races, swimming parties, night games, visited the nearby dinosaur museum in Vernal, Utah which displays skeletons and other interesting things. We went to sports events and into the mountains to eat dinner and play games around an evening fire. One night we sat on the side of the mountain looking over Utah Valley to watch the sun set. We were lined up sitting on the hill side, which gave us an amazing view all the way from the Point of the Mountain to Santaquin. We made things simple by buying fried chicken and we ate our evening meal sitting like that. When we couldn’t see anything we packed up and came home.

I remember that summer. As the years have passed most of us don’t talk about the chores we had to do, the piano practicing that went on, or the books that were read. And, there were quite a few books read because rewards were given for each book each child read. What is talked about was the pie eating contest or something else fun. I should have expected that given that children love to do things that are fun. But I am surprised that those same fun things are what I remember too. I am glad our children love to read and to this day read quite a bit, but if I had to choose what I am most thankful for it would be that I had the chance to be with all of my children at the same time doing something that was just plain fun. We looked forward to each event. We were all excited. There were few arguments. We talked about important things going to and from each activity. The same things could be accomplished by working together on some family project, but as I watch my children with their children, I smile when I see them make choices to do something just for the fun of it. In their generation they are drawing themselves as parents close to their children attached to each other with love and fun. It is a very good thing.