“Rejoice as summer should…chase away sorrows by living.” ― Melissa Marr
The other night I was taking a walk when I came upon a man pushing a lawn mower across his overgrown grass. My pace slowed as I watched tiny blades of grass dance over his yard. I breathed in deeply and smiled.
Summer
It is the smell of fresh lawn trimmings and gasoline.
It is the sound of crickets and thunderstorms.
It is the taste of homemade vanilla ice cream.
It is the feeling of hot cement under bare feet.
It is more than a season and more than a memory. It is my favorite, most alive feeling, and it can be awakened with one smell, one taste, or one remembrance from my childhood summers.
Because when I was a kid, summer was an all-senses experience.
I cut the grass blasting tunes on my Walkman, waving to my dad as he supervised me mow the steep hill in back. I sported chlorine-scented hair and Love’s Baby Soft perfume. I wrote notes to my best friend in bubble-letter script and mailed them because that was second best to passing them in class. I babysat and carried a blue-eyed toddler on my hip treating her like the beloved child I someday hoped to have. I beat the fuzzy yellow tennis ball against the garage door in rhythmic succession. There was always one long car trip with my family—sweaty legs that stuck to the seat and ice cold soda from the cooler in back.
Now here I stand on an uneven sidewalk admiring a stranger’s lawn mower lines wondering what my children’s summer associations will be.
I fear for the extinction of nighttime hide-and-go-seek and tadpole catching in a shallow creek. It doesn't take scientific data to tell me that an All-Senses Summer is greatly threatened by electronic screens, over-scheduling, endless duties and distractions—both on my children’s part and mine.
As the man tending his lawn gave me a friendly wave, I forced a smile wondering how I could save the season of watermelon-stained smiles from permanent extinction.
A few days later, I had a scare on the Internet. Although the issue resolved quickly and safely for me, it might have been different for my child in a room by herself despite Internet filtering software and parental controls. My husband and I had gotten lax about allowing our children to use screens in all areas of the house—but no more. We reiterated the dangers of the Internet and designated a high-traffic area of our house to keep their devices. That is where the electronics would stay and where they would always be used.
Let’s just say, we instantly saw more of the children.
Let’s just say, time spent on the devices was shorter.
Let’s just say, I became more aware of my own device usage.
Let’s just say, there was heightened interest in engaging with each other.
Let’s just say, something wonderful happened.
The first ever sister jam session happened. Sewing doll pillows happened. Princess Camp planning for little girls in our neighborhood happened. Laundry folding while conversing about puberty happened (not my favorite, but highly important). Desktop organization and bathroom counter clearing happened. Mother’s Helper flier creation and distribution happened. A lemonade stand happened. Seed planting and car washing happened.
Why this surge of creative, hands on, all-senses engagement?
Maybe it was because sitting on the hardwood floor to use the device just wasn’t as appealing as the former comfy chair.
Maybe it was because I understood the importance and the necessity of saying yes to messy activities and out-of-the-box ideas.
Maybe it was because having devices in the family room reduced device time and increased conversation, connection, and awareness for everyone in the family.
Or maybe it was because I saw my children clearly and realized our summer seasons together are dwindling.
With my almost 12-year-old older daughter, I can feel them physically slipping through my fingers.
It hit me on the night of a gathering I hosted for the women I’d met through the LISTEN TO YOUR MOTHER production. My daughter spent the previous day helping me prepare food and clean the patio so I encouraged her to go to the movies with her sister and dad. I was secretly hoping she’d go because I thought having her underfoot might be a distraction. But because my child was quite adamant that she wanted to help serve, I invited her to stay.
My daughter began making lemon water in a drink dispenser she bought at Target. It didn't really go with the décor, but I kept quiet. She tied an apron around her waist and began slicing lemons for the water.
“Mmmmm … I love the smell of lemons,” she said looking so grown, my almost middle schooler.
My daughter did a wonderful job serving beverages to my friends and seemed to enjoy listening to the interesting conversations going on around her. When I addressed the group about being one another’s “missing pieces”, I noticed my daughter didn’t look away when I got choked up. She smiled encouragingly at me from the back of the room as I regained my composure.
When the last guest left the party, my daughter motioned to the container. “Look, Mama! My lemon water was the most popular drink!”
“I am so glad you were here with me,” I said smiling. “Thank you for choosing to be here.”
“Thank you for inviting me,” she said.
As my daughter collected the shriveled lemons stuck to the bottom of the container, the most wonderful thought came to mind: Her hands will smell of lemons. And perhaps someday that scent will awaken this memory in her soul.
As my daughter stood in the middle of my life and I stood in the middle of her growing memory bank, I knew I’d just received the answer to what had been troubling me. The key to cultivating an All-Senses Summer is much simpler than I previously thought. The key is this:
We must invite each other to the common areas of our lives. We must not stay closed up, separated, and disconnected. We must say yes to our loved ones’ contribution, even if it’s messy, even if it doesn’t match, even if they might see us cry.
They will only look like this for a season.
They will only live under our roof for a spell.
But what they do here and now will live on much longer.
In one smell … one taste … one touch … they can relive a moment when someone invited them into the sacred spaces of life.
And that one invitation alone could make for a meaningful and memorable summer.
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Recommended Resources (Please don’t skip over this!)
- One of the most intriguing posts on the Internet about empowering children to cultivate healthy technology use and non-screen hobbies is called, “How I Limited My Kids Screen Time by Offering Unlimited Screen Time.” The concept is based on personal momentum. As a freelance writer, the author finds that if she begins her day in productive manner, it is likely she will spend her day that way. She found this to be true for her children as well. She writes, “Because they are youth existing in the 20teens, they are drawn like moths to glowing rectangular screens as soon as they wake up, and given their druthers, would spend the entire day glued to the Interwebs, killing zombies or mining diamonds or whatever.” The author came up with a unique solution she calls the “Momentum Optimization Project” or “The List” which is an agenda of tasks her children must accomplish each day before they have unlimited screen time. You can see how some of the tasks on “The List” would lend themselves to lengthy, non-screen endeavors that are quite enjoyable. I highly encourage you to check out the original post here or the summertime edition of The List here.
- In addition, there is a free printable of a “No Screen Time Until …” list found at Your Modern Family. I adapted it to fit our family’s needs and interests (pictured below). Although my oldest daughter initially wanted to feed the list to the cat, both girls have taken to the daily agenda and quite a few All-Senses Experiences have already been made since summer vacation began a few days ago. I used the awesome “20 Questions to Ask Kids” to create a list of writing prompts and searched “reading log” on Google to find a reading log that provided space to write a bit about what was read (see photo below). Everything they need is kept in a folder (see picture below) along with the “No Screentime Until …” agenda that has a M-F check-off list.
- Six Ways to Keep Your Teenagers Safe Online discusses some of the effective strategies mentioned in this post to safeguard our families. How Do I Keep My Children Safe Online: What the Security Experts Tell Their Kids is another informative article about talking to kids about Internet dangers and strategies to protect them.
Thanks for being part of The Hands Free Revolution — letting go of distraction, perfection, and pressure to live more and love more in the time we are given! For more inspiration, strategies, and life-changing habits you can adopt today, please see my books!
Amy Neal says
This made me cry hot tears of happy, remembering my summers. I have so many tender memories of summer and they are ALL tied up in my sensory memory. Every year I recommit to allowing messes, allowing noise, and embracing the whole thing so that my kids will have that. I don’t want the Netflix logo to be their dominant memory of summer! Thanks for this gorgeous piece of writing to help me remember….two more days till school’s out!
Scarlet says
Such a great message. Kids need to spend more time being kids, doing things, and experience actual life and less time looking at screens. We try to travel a lot over the summer to make the most out of our time off and keep the kids learning and having fun actively with us.