The Cozy Queue #11: Romanticizing Summer Survival Mode
Nothing can stop me, even fly season
Summer is starting to reach temperatures that feel nearly unbearable here in Texas, and despite my strongest mental protests, my summers will probably never feel like a Carley Fortune novel set somewhere beachy in Canada or a Nancy Meyers patio dinner eaten al fresco by candlelight.
Instead, it’s fly season.
Which means double-bagged trash, things flying directly into your face every time you step outside, and closing doors as quickly as humanly possible while letting dogs and children in and out of the house.
Can you romanticize such a thing?
I’m up for the challenge.
Historically, I get a little seasonally depressed in the summer because it’s just. so. hot. I can’t take the kids outside past noon unless we’re going to the pool, which my 15-month-old apparently hates. And my kids are not quite at the ages where I can leisurely pull out my Kindle and let them splash around while I become the effortlessly relaxed summer mother of my dreams.
So right now, summer survival mode looks like strategic morning outings, planned activities, sticking to a schedule, and accepting that 3 and 4-year-old boys do not, in fact, love to fly by the seat of their pants.
Here’s everything getting me through my sweaty summer days this week.
Watching
Every Year After
I was always going to watch this because I love a moody summer romance, a lake setting, and adaptations of romance novels I love.
This is exactly the kind of summer I want in theory. Dock days, old feelings, pretty scenery, complicated history, and the kind of nostalgia that feels reminiscent of The Summer I Turned Pretty.
I’m only an episode in and actually grateful I can’t remember much about the Carley Fortune novel it’s based on because I’m always a harsh critic with adaptations.
Reading
Dolly All the Time
Annabel Monaghan really knows how to write women who are trying to hold everything together while also wanting something beautiful for themselves. And a lot of her leading ladies are single moms.
Which is basically my favorite genre I didn’t know I needed until I discovered her books.
I’m still reading, but so far this feels like the exact kind of book I want in summer. Seaside town, a fake dating trope, and a love story written by one of the best.
Basically, butterflies guaranteed.
One Thing Making Life Feel Like a Warm Hug
A clean house.
I know. Groundbreaking. But it is incredible what a clean house does for my psyche, and I think I’ve finally started to figure out how to keep my house clean with three small children in a way that makes me feel somewhat relaxed instead of constantly overwhelmed by my own home.
The goal is simple: after bedtime, I want to take my shower, make my tea, and collapse into bed with my book or show without staring at piles of laundry, dishes, and tiny socks that I have to tackle with what little energy I have left.
Here’s what’s been working:
Laundry
Everyone always says to do one load of laundry a day, and I never really understood how to make that feel manageable. But I think I’ve finally cracked it.
Each kid has a hamper in their room, and during nap time or quiet time, I pick one kid’s laundry and bring it down. I fold it and put it away either during afternoon playtime or while my husband helps with bath.
Just one kid. One load. Based on whose hamper is the fullest.
It takes so much less time because I’m not separating everyone’s clothes afterward and trying to figure out what belongs where. I cannot believe this is the laundry system that may finally make me a changed woman.
Dishes
Unload the dishwasher before the kids get up.
Trust me.
Life-changing.
Then you can add dishes as you go throughout the day instead of creating a terrifying kitchen situation by 5 p.m. A trashed kitchen makes my eye twitch, but a kitchen that stays semi-reset throughout the day makes me feel like maybe I have my life together.
Romanticizing My Week
We don’t have camp this week, so I’m doing my best to romanticize busy mom mode with three kids home full-time.
Bless every homeschooling mom because truly, I am overwhelmed. But we will prevail.
My plan is to treat morning activities like little summer field trips instead of desperate attempts to survive until nap time.
Here’s what I have planned:
Nature and Science Center: They have a covered dinosaur dig area, which I anticipate will entertain them for a significant chunk of the morning. Dinosaurs, shade, and children digging in something that is not my couch cushions? Perfect.
Wildflower Center: Outdoor play areas in the morning, pretty flowers, space to wander, and the illusion that we are having a wholesome summer adventure instead of simply trying to beat the heat.
Pool: It’s not my favorite right now because my youngest has decided water is his enemy, but the older boys love it. So alas, I will do it. For the plot. For the memories. For the inevitable post-pool naps.
Coffee shop and playground: This is my favorite mom hack: get the fancy coffee before the playground as your advance treat.
Not after.
Before.
You deserve to enter the wood-chip arena holding something iced, expensive, and morale-boosting.
Here’s to romanticizing the sweaty parts, the survival-mode parts, and the parts of summer that do not look like a beach novel but might still become a good memory anyway.
