Somewhere around the third week of June, I was convinced we were about to have the perfect summer. Looking back now, these are my Summer Confessions (so far).
I thought I had everything planned. I had a color-coded chore calendar. A list of enrichment ideas. Screen-free plans. Work schedules coordinated with Brandon’s flexible hours. We even hired my older cousin to come help with the girls from 12-4 on the days I worked so everything would run smoothly.
In my mind, the girls would finish their chores, spend time outside, maybe learn something along the way, and I’d come home to a peaceful house where everyone had had a productive day.
That version of summer lasted about 48 hours.
How My Perfect Summer Plan Completely Fell Apart
A few weeks in, I quietly stopped reminding everyone about the schedule. I stopped worrying about whether we’d checked every box. I let the girls decide how they wanted to spend their afternoons. Some days they swam. Some days they watched TV. Some days they built forts or disappeared outside for hours.
And something unexpected happened.
Everyone got happier.
Even me.
Sure, there are afternoons when I come home from work to a kitchen that looks like raccoons hosted lunch. The laundry has multiplied. The floors somehow have grass, melted popsicle, and wet towels scattered everywhere.
But I’ve also realized something.
The less pressure I put on myself to create the “perfect summer,” the more I actually enjoy living it.
Turns out, letting go has made me a nicer mom. A happier wife.
And a version of myself my kids get to know outside of “Mom Mode.”
Confession #1: The chore schedule died before the popsicles even melted.
I made a chore schedule.
I proudly published it to our Skylight calendar.
Then about a week later I realized the kids had changed the Skylight back to a photo slideshow because absolutely no one was following my masterpiece anymore.
Honestly? Fair enough.
Confession #2: “Screen-free summer” was aspirational at best.
I literally wrote an entire blog post about 30 screen-free activities for tweens and I stand by every single suggestion.
Have we done more than six? Probably not. There have been plenty of afternoons when the rule became: “You can watch whatever you want as long as nobody starts a fight with her sister.”
Growth looks different than I expected.
Confession #3: Safe Caitlin has officially left the chat.
I’ve always been the mom saying, “Walk!” “Be careful!” “What if you get hurt?”
This summer, I packed up my worries and let the girls try things that would’ve terrified me a year ago.
Swimming way out into the middle of a lake to jump off a giant iceberg?
Okay.
Wakeboard surfing?
Go for it.
Then somehow I ended up trying wakeboarding myself.
Apparently the only thing more surprising than watching my kids get braver…was realizing I was getting braver too. It turns out it’s hard to ask your kids to be courageous if they never see you doing brave things too.
Confession #4: I have become an entertainer.
For years I’ve said, “I’m not your cruise director.”
But somewhere between waterslides, tubing, boating, and long lake days, I realized I don’t always have to be the supervisor of the fun.
Sometimes I get to be part of it.
The highlight? Landing my very first front flip off a giant water trampoline in the middle of a pond.
The cheers from my girls afterward might be one of my favorite parenting memories ever. Who knew Mom could do a flip? Certainly not me.
Confession #5: The home project I couldn’t wait to tackle…
I genuinely can’t remember what it was. I think I was going to repaint the playroom.
Or re-whitewash the fireplace. Maybe organize a closet?
Whatever it was…Summer Caitlin decided it could wait.
Confession #6: I have absolutely no idea what day it is.
Monday. Saturday. Thursday. It’s all one giant blur.
The only thing keeping me grounded is my three workdays each week, and even those sometimes feel like they’re happening in a completely different universe.
But here’s the biggest confession of all: I’m not upset about any of it.
Not the messy house or the abandoned schedules or the forgotten projects.
Not even the pinching wars that somehow erupt during four-hour car rides because someone won’t stop blowing in her sister’s ear.
This summer has been everything I hoped it would be…just not in the way I planned.
I’ve stopped trying so hard to organize every memory before it happens.
I’ve loosened my grip so I can laugh more and worry less. I even got to hold a giant white duck.
And somehow, by letting go of the picture-perfect summer I imagined, we’ve ended up living one that feels even better.
Because that’s the part nobody posts.
Not the abandoned chore charts. Not the 9pm delivery dinner after a long day at the neighborhood pool. Not the toys scattered across the backyard.
It’s the moment in the middle of the beautiful chaos when you suddenly realize…
Oh. This is it.
This is the summer they’re going to remember.
And honestly?
I think I will too.
The best part?
Summer isn’t over yet.
We still have more pool days, our annual Cape Cod vacation, more late night dinners, more spontaneous adventures, and probably at least a few more abandoned plans.
And for once…
I wouldn’t have it any other way.
So tell me—what’s your biggest summer confession?
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