Our family’s schedule has fully switched into “summer mode”: hot days, lots of time spent outside with the neighbors, birthday parties every week, grilling dinner in the backyard. Forget housework—it’s too hot and we’re too busy for things like dishes or laundry! We’re not in the house anyway, so who cares if it’s a mess!
(Answer: I do. But I’m the only one who seems to care, so I try to forget it.)
On Sunday, our close-knit block had the first real get-together of the summer. While hanging out on the neighbor’s stoop drinking beer and eating hot dogs, we were all struck (as we are every year about this time) by how much older all the kids from the block look and seem. Last time our families saw each other was in the fall—October is usually the last neighborly “hurrah” before everyone retreats inside for the winter. It is striking how in the few months, all the babies and toddlers have become little kids (including N) and how last-year’s 11-year-olds are now full-fledged “tweens,” cell phones in hand, constantly texting their friends.
We are so thankful for our neighborly block, where everyone watches out for everyone else and the kids know someone always has an eye on them (at least in the physical world if not in cyberspace—which is a whole other topic). In today’s digital age, neighbors and neighborhood connections are something to be treasured and protected—especially during the summer, when those connections are strengthened and nurtured.
Thank goodness for summer, warm weather and neighbors. The housework can wait until fall!!
A Mom In Brooklyn 