Dear Sally,

We are approaching the end of the summer holiday here and my kids have been home for almost 3 months. Three months Sally!!! That is a lot of time at home. I love my kids (of course I do) and as we count down the last few weeks before school goes back, I want to be more present and enjoy the last summer days. But I can’t. I just can’t. I feel completely beat. I don’t know why I am having such a hard time with this. My kids are not babies, and they are pretty easy to have around. Yet I feel like I have hit a brick wall and can’t take one more day of summer. I don’t know why I am feeling like this, but I want to NOT feel like this. Please help!!!

Love, Not-Summer-Lovin

Dear Summer,

In my experience, humans seem to spend all winter waiting for summer and then all summer waiting for fall. I am not sure if that has anything to do with kids or not, but for some reason, it seems to be true for most folks. I guess that old saying you guys have about the lazy days of summer isn’t quite so true anymore. To be honest, I’m not sure it was ever true.

Because I’m a horse, I’m pretty tuned into nature. I have to say that on my side of the fence, summer sure is a busy time. It’s the time we’re eating grass (a lot), gaining some summer weight so we can make it through leaner winters, enjoying long days of sunshine, along with heat and flies. Gestating babies. Overall, summer is a productive time for most animal species. Eating, breeding, socializing are the order of business. Because, in her infinite wisdom, mother nature also gave us winter. A time for hunkering down, resting, and taking care of our most basic needs.

Human beings used to live in this rhythm too. I’m not so sure humans experienced lazy days of summer either. In past times, they were probably too busy farming, storing, canning, preserving and making the most of the long days. Regardless, life today knows no rhythm. At least, humans don’t want to honor any rhythm. Your body on the other hand, still knows plenty of rhythm, and the depletion you’re feeling at the end of summer is most likely natural. As we start to think about shifting seasons, our bodies start to feel a transition coming. It can make us feel restless, irritable, and sometimes like we’re coming out of our skin. Having kids underfoot all day everyday for 3 months has been know to compound that feeling! The truth is this time of year is a turning point. Even though the days are still hot, fall is on it’s way.

Here’s some practical advice for you to get through this transitional time. Give yourself a break. Both literally and figuratively. Call a babysitter and get those kids out of the house. Sit down on your sofa, alone, and take a look around. Take a few deep breaths while you’re at it. Put some music on. Light a candle. Take a nap. After you’ve done this for a little while, take a walk around your house. How’s it looking? Is it a little trashed from having kids home all day, everyday? Are there things that have been nagging you all summer? Have you got a packed beach bag still sitting in the corner? Transition requires us to take stock of what we have. It’s your bodies natural way of helping you prepare for the new season. Spend a few hours figuring out what needs to happen in your home. I promise this will help settle things down for you.

Map out what what you want to do with the kids for the rest of the summer. Do you want to go n a small trip, do you have childcare, do you have a plan for yourself. Then put all those pieces in place and start to work your plan. Don’t sit around feeling awful and promising yourself that you will feel better when the kids get back into school. Start feeling better today. It’s the only day you’ve got.

I hope this helps Summer. I know it’s maybe not the answer you were expecting. But I also know more about nature’s transitions than most. And I promise you that this seasonal transition is a big part of what has you feeling frustrated. Don’t fight it. Welcome it.

Love, Sally