53 Things I Love About Parenting in the Summer

I’m not gonna lie, there are lots of things that make my job harder this time of year. The endless hours of daylight, bug bites, splinters, sunscreen application, taking wet bathing suits off to poop (have I mentioned how much my kids poop?), drowning nightmares, the effing ice cream man. But in honor of this first week of the season, I thought today we could focus on what makes summer so good—for me and for them. Here’s my quick, stream-of-consciousness list of summer faves:

Sprinklers = bath. Pool + hose = bath. Ocean = bath. (Ocean also = really good hair.) S’mores. Lightning bugs. Corn on the cob. Oysters. Clams. Tomatoes. Zucchini. Lobster. Grilled everything. My garden. Lying in the grass = activity. Eating outside. Crazy thunderstorms. Baseball. Boating. Swimming. Salt water. Air drying. Windows open. Windows down. Top 40. Flip flops. Bare feet. Big waves. Hydrangeas. Marco Polo. Joy. Laughter. Fire pits. Fireworks. Blockbusters. Bad TV. Billy Joel. Paul Simon. Bob Marley. The smell of sunscreen. Sand on my feet (not in my house). Corona Light. Lemonade. Jumping overboard. Jumping off the diving board. Jumping on the 50 Shades bandwagon. Biking. Beaching. Barbecuing. American-flag-themed stuff. Real ice cream in a cone. Guacamole. Vacations. Cuddling a kid wrapped in a beach towel. And finally, summer Fridays, like the one I’m (clearly) taking today.

Happy summer, everyone. And happy Friday!

What’s on your quick-hit list of summer wonders?