This summer has been an experiment…an experiment in chaos.  I went back to work (after being home 5 years) this past June.  I started looking for a job in April thinking it would take me all summer, and I got an offer right away.  Great news, except that I had to find care for Joshua during the summer.  One reason I went back to work is because he is in school full-time in the fall.  I wasn’t happy that I had to leave him early.  My husband works from home 2 days a week and grandma was happy to spoil him 1 day a week.  That left 2 days up in the air.  A long-time friend lives on the way to work, so we decided to try leaving Joshua with her…introduce chaos.

Beth has 3 children 11, 7, and almost 5.  She lives in a neighborhood full of kids and usually has no less than 5 at her house at any given time.  She does fine with it and since her children have always lived in that environment, they do well with it too.  Joshua…not so much.  He spent the first couple weeks in shock.  He held it together, but I could tell he wasn’t happy.  I was so close to putting him at his school in their summer camp program to give him the structure he craved.  I am glad I held out - we finished the summer strong.  He relaxed and started venturing outside his comfort zone.  He went to the park adjacent to their back yard and made new friends; he played with the kids across the street; he went in the “big pool” as opposed to the kiddie pool; he did arts and crafts, read books, did puzzles and actually had a great time (gasp!).

Growing up in an only-child family is different than growing up in a family with multiple kids.  Our house tends toward being calm and organized.  Joshua naturally prefers what he is used to - the activity at Aunt Beth’s house was uncomfortable for him in the beginning.  As we all know, life is not always calm and organized.  Our job as parents is to give our kids a safe environment in which to mature.  They will eventually leave the nest and the more preparation they have, the more successful they will be at this thing called life.