A Whole Lot of Nothing

It is June 16th, and it hardly seems like summer has started. Overcast and cool, time seems to stand still on days like these. The kids love it, as do I.

“Pajama day!” they’ve declared for the last four days, when their school year ended. That’s code for, “We’re not getting dressed today. No matter what.” It includes going on errands or playing outside. They even talked me into joining them on their summer dress code yesterday. I lasted till 1:00 p.m.

It’s not that things haven’t been eventful since summer officially started. Family, friends and new faces joined me in my Oakland book launch party last week – a wonderful event of book signing, reading, trivia contest and most importantly – gratitude. We celebrated Harrison’s 13th birthday the next day (could it really be I’m the parent of a teenager now? Strange, that he’s getting older and I’m not). We were fortunate to have my 24 year-old niece, Stephanie, join us for an impromptu two-night slumber party. And now the kids and I are gearing up for their sleep away camp while I finalize scheduling for a Midwest book launch.

But “eventful” is not the adjective we’re looking for to describe our summer days in our family. Rather, Harrison and Olivia thrive on a whole lot of nothingness. And the gift to me, amid my continued structured schedule, is coming across evidence of their creative use of their time.

The other day I stepped outside to see Stephanie and Olivia emerge from the neighbor’s thicket of bushes. Snowball, our cat, darted out ahead of them with a distinct look of irritation.

“Harrison!” Stephanie hollered. “I’ve got sap in my hair!” Moments later she and Olivia were leaning against fallen chairs, inching their way down the middle of our street.

“Go!”

“Stop!”

“Go!”

Harrison stood behind the laptop, a cable dangling between it and a camcorder, as he directed a stop-motion film. Clearly there will be more films this summer. As I type this, Harrison is behind a tripod, filming “Spoiled Child,” a short film he and Olivia are co-creating. I’m not allowed to know the plot, but from what I can glean, spoiled girls wear barretts.

Today Harrison showed me his President Obama project, a baseball hat covered in a decoupage of Obama names and images. As I admired it, something caught my eye overhead. Hanging from the beams of the living room was an astounding array of stuffed animals.

“Is that for the movie?” I asked Olivia.

“No,” she answered. “That was just a side project.”

But its not all fun and games – for me. Yesterday I walked through the family room, only to be brought to an unexpected halt.

“What on earth–” my arms flew about as I tried to disentangle myself from some mysterious web.

“Gotcha!” Olivia cheered from the sofa. “It’s invisible thread!”

“They got me, too, ” Stephanie sympathized. “Only with me, it was my feet.”

I suppose I could have scheduled a slew of day camps for the kids. Maybe it was my own sentimentality for my carefree summer days of childhood that holds me back every year. There will be swim lessons, and one day camp later this summer. And we’ll also have a few beach days, a camping trip or two, and a long Amtrak ride up the coast of California. But mostly, I look forward to watching my kids listen to their own spirit as they create their days’ activities. Even it is does mean watching out for the occasional trap.

Tags: Beach, Book launch, Children, Films, Summer

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