My sister wrote a lovely, humourous, and thought-provoking post on the bittersweet ending of summer. And that made me want to write my own list. (But go view hers first)
This summer we accomplished:
1) Our first bona fide vacation with the whole family. And Disneyland is still standing. I’m sure that earthquake was just the universe shaking its head in disbelief.
2) The kids did Fast ForWord. They each did about 50 sessions. Emma finished 98% of Language and 50% of Language to Reading. Calvin got through 86% of Language. Way to go! That took commitment.
3) Calvin is now into the fourth book of the Harry Potter series and Emma (mostly due to the peer pressure of having her younger brother out-read her) is into Chapter 5 of the first book. Reading! Man, it is so much easier to parent when your kids WANT to do something.
4) Emma auditioned for the local community panto. She wanted to. I helped her choose and learn a song. I helped her choose her outfit and drove her to the audition. But she did it all on her own. We’ll find out in a few days if she got in.
5) Calvin and Emma did one week of daycamp which involved a lot of field trips. They had a good time and seemed to make friends, so big points to them (Emma especially).
6) Emma and Calvin gained a bit of independence this summer by being able to go some places on their own. That was HUGE for them, and for me seeing as I’ve been a bit of an overprotective mother. They survived, so did I. Although I did have to explain to them why they saw me in the car as they were walking to their movie.
7) We’ve just started the JUMP program for math (but as it’s still summer vacation it counts). More about this later. Suffice to say it is GREAT and I think it’s going to CHANGE the way my kids view math.
Off to a new season.
Update: Well, in response to Ms. Mahoney’s musing that I only accomplished 7 things to her 10, I felt it incumbent upon me to add to the list:
8 ) Took a tap dance class. Yes, I now know how to shuffle, flap, and do a cramp roll.
9) Re-read the entire Harry Potter series.
10) Weed-whacked half the back yard. I got sore wrists and was unable to continue.
I can’t match Ms. Mahoney’s 86 beer however.
Tentative Equinox North
Tentative Equinox 
Not that I want to point fingers or anything, but I accomplished 10 things to your 7…..of course, your seven all involve your children where as mine seem to be accomplishing things that do not involve/avoid/ignore my children, so I suppose it all evens out.
Wicked of Emma auditioning! That is awesome news! I hope she gets a part! What did she sing? Wear? Did you get to watch?
She sang “I Don’t Want to Live on the Moon” from the Sesame Street canon. Shawn Colvin does a lovely job of it on Elmopalooza. I betcha it can be youtubed too.
She wore a green striped skirt (maybe a Kaitlyn hand-me-down?) and a green sweater. She really looked lovely.
I didn’t get to watch her audition, but she said they seemed to enjoy her song.
They are looking for a chorus of penguins, so I hope she’s not at that awkward stage of being too old for the kids chorus and too young for a real part.