July 01--With gratitude (and apologies) to Laura Numeroff, whose "If You Give ..." books are household favorites.
If you tell a mom it's July, she's going to have a mild panic attack.
She's going to consult her white board list of Things To Do This Summer. She'll see that only four have been checked off. She'll want to check off 17 more by Saturday.
She'll plan a grueling day that includes biking The 606, followed by Black Dog Gelato, followed by mini golf, rock climbing, sliding and swinging at Maggie Daley Park, followed by a picnic dinner and concert at Millennium Park, followed by fireworks. She'll wonder if there's time to go swimming beforehand.
She'll decide swimming can wait until Sunday. She'll remember there are tennis lessons on Sunday, followed by two birthday parties, one of which is in the suburbs.
She'll consider quitting her job.
She'll remember that she can't quit her job, because she needs money for things like groceries and a mortgage and birthday gifts. She'll drive to Target to buy birthday gifts.
While she's at Target, she'll see limes on sale. The limes will remind her that "Make a Key lime pie from scratch" is on her list of Things To Do This Summer. She'll call her mom because her mom loves Key lime pie.
Her mom will ask if she and the kids can bring their bikes over next week and ride to the frozen custard place they all love. She'll say yes.
Saying yes will remind her that "Teach Will to ride his bike without training wheels" is also on her list. She'll decide to scratch that item.
Scratching an item will allow a sense of calm to settle over her. The calm will frighten her, so she'll think of a new item to add to the list: "Check out the new splash park Elaine posted on Facebook Monday."
She'll search for her phone to look up the address of the new splash park. When she finds her phone, she'll see an email has arrived from her kids' school. The email will say that school supply lists are now available.
When she opens the email, she'll start thinking about school. And when she starts thinking about school, she'll start thinking about summer ending. And when she starts thinking about summer ending ...
She's going to have a mild panic attack.
hstevens@tribpub.com
