The Mid-Summer Slump

Lately, I've been feeling a lack of motivation.  A kind of blah-ness, if you will.

Blog posts have been a challenge to come up with and write, even when I plan them out a month in advance.  My kids are driving me up the wall with all their little fights over little things.  And there's me, probably driving them crazy with my seemingly constant use of "stop fighting" and "play nicely" or "do I need to separate you two?"
I'm tired of trying to come up with, and then execute, activities for my kids or as a family because I don't want to deal with the fights or the drama of my four-year-old who thinks she's sixteen and my two year old who thinks he can do the same things as his sister.  I'm constantly shutting the back door to try and keep the temperature cooler inside than it is outside.  They're in.  They're out.  Someone's crying because they dropped their popsicle.

And you know what I'm chalking it all up to?

The Mid-Summer Slump.

Ever since my first summer as a stay at home mom four years ago, I feel like I literally hit this wall smack dab in the middle of summer.  The novelty of summer and sunshine and more freedom from routine has worn off.  The kids are starting to get on each other's nerves (and mine) more often.  The desire to make plans and stick with them slowly fades.  Motivation to exercise, even just taking the kids on a walk around the neighborhood, is hard to find, especially when it's so. blasted. hot.  My patience is wearing thin and it's showing in my quickness to snap when my kids or husband ask an innocent question.

I think my kids are totally feeling this slump too.  During the fall and winter and spring, there is more of a routine established because there is generally more going on, whether it's school or sports or music lesson or dance class.  There are holidays and homework and the time off is more enjoyable because you know it's going to come to an end sooner than you expect so you're trying to pack as much in as possible.  Or maybe you're trying to pack the least amount of stuff in to maximize relaxation.

But the middle of summer is this weird place where you've done your family vacations or you're waiting to go on them and you've exhausted your regular list of what to do when the kids say "I'm bored".  The kids are tired from staying up too late and getting up too early ("But mom, it's still light outside!").  Maybe you're even getting to the point where you both look forward to and dread the fact that school is starting soon.  (Then again, school means a change in seasons and usually colder weather, which also means more time inside than outside.)

The Mid-Summer Slump.  It's real.

Are you feeling it too?