1. I Don't Need a Nap

   June 24, 2025

   Oh yes you do. You really do.

   It’s a hard age to be, this six-years-old thing. Too young to stay up late at night which she’s been doing - but too old to nap. At least, that’s what she thinks.

   

   Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash

   She had been up too late the past few nights with the heat and the excitement of the end of the school year so this morning we asked her what she wanted to do and she told us “nothing”.

   Okay then. Nothing it is. We can do nothing.

   This morning she spent a few hours on the tablet and then about 11am started to lose it - the late nights and the swimming and the heat had caught up with her.

   Of course, she denied she needed a nap.

   “I don’t need a nap!”, she cried.

   Oh, she needed a nap. She was horrible to be around with and would not listen to a word so the tablet and all the fun went away until the mood improved considerably.

   I went back out to drive around strangers and BW texted me that she stealthily went up to her bedroom and zonked out for a good hour and a half.

   That’s my girl! I hate to say I told you so….but. Dad knows best.

   It’s a good thing she napped too because later in the afternoon we went to the orientation for the summer camp she’s going to start and she had a blast and the camp didn’t even start yet!

   There will be swimming, and fishing and field trips and games and crafts and all kinds of stuff for her to do. We found this camp from a recommendation of a parent and what a great find! It’s located at the very private and secluded end of Beaver Island State Park with lots of room to run and play with views of the Niagara River in the background.

   Heck, I want to go.

   The best part is I can drop her off at 7:30 am and pick her up at 5:30pm

   By this time next week she’ll be begging us for a nap.

   Here’s to summer camp and tired kiddos at the end of the day.

   Until Next Time,

   TH and Co.

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2. Change is Hard

   June 23, 2025

   Regardless of what age or what you’re changing

   Just quit smoking, or hoovering those donuts they tell you. Like it’s easy.

   

   Photo by Chris Lawton on Unsplash

   The familiar, on the other hand - that’s the easy. You know what a donut tastes like. (delicious) but maybe you’ve never tried kale. Kale can be considered scary for those that are adverse to vegetables.

   So, yeah. Change is hard.

   But it didn’t dawn on me that the end of the school year might be something that the child was actually afraid of. The end means finished, done, over.

   What I had assumed with her jumping off the school bus for the last time this year with joy was just the opposite. She arrived, hot tired and cranky.

   I thought that it was because she was tired from staying up the night before too late due to the last day excitement, but nope. She came home and cried and screamed and cried.

   She was not five minutes in the door when I heard the first “I’m bored”.

   It didn’t matter what it was, it was all wrong. Her life was ruined. Again, we just chalked it up to tired. We fed her lunch and then told her it was quiet time for an hour, but of course she would have none of it and despite my best attempts, there was no nap but at least the mood was a bit better.

   She perked up, and as promised - we went out to celebrate the last day of school with ice cream. She chose rainbow flavor and devoured the entire bowl.

   

   Rainbow Sherbet

   By the time we got home, full of ice cream and with temps topping 100 degress, we spent the last of the afternoon in the pool. The pool was so warm. It was over 90 degrees in that little pool. I like a warm pool, but it was almost too warm. It was an odd feeling to have it feel cooler when you get out of the pool when it’s 100 degress outside.

   The rest of the evening went as usual. I let her run around in the sprinkler until she was done after dinner because it’s summer vacation and we have nothing planned for tomorrow, so whatever - it’s summer vacation and long nights need to be spent outdoors under a sprinkler.

   Finally, we got the house put back together for the day and she’s in bed looking at her yearbook from kindergarten of all her friends so I hop in the shower as she’s quiet in bed and the night is done, right?

   Oh, no. She burst into tears and she came downstairs to BW worrying about missing her friends and she won’t see all her friends anymore. She was beside herself. BW sat her down and explained that she had phone numbers of pretty much all her friends and we can arrange dates. She also explained that at camp she is going to have so much fun she will make new friends.

   This seemed to get her off the ledge and as I tucked her in she went from sad to realizing the very good possibility of making new friends.

   As it turns out, all of us are going to summer camp orientation tomorrow evening so I am sure she’ll be more comfortable about things once she meets some other kiddos and sees where things are going to take place and what camp actually looks like.

   As I left for the last time, she was rhyming off the possibilities of summer camp and how much fun it would be.

   But change is hard, and we forgot that. We knew what was coming next and she didn’t.

   It’s no fun being afraid of the future - regardless of your age.

   

   Trying to Be Brave,

   TH and Co.

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3. Graduation Day

   June 22, 2025

   She started school and I started writing.

   Way, Way, Way back in the fall of 2024, I realized I had a few problems:

   

   Photo by Baim Hanif on Unsplash

   1. I wanted to write more. I guess if I want to be a writer it’s important to write.
   2. I wanted to remember the little things as she grew up. It’s too easy to think that nothing changed in a day but then you add up the days and a lot has changed.
   3. I wanted to see if I could write every day.( I can! )
   4. I wanted to see if I could build an audience (slowly, but yes - thank you!)

   Thus, Tidy Husband was (re)born. I had been writing on/off over the past year or so but the writing was intermittent at best.

   So, I decided to be less intermittent and more…whatever the opposite is.

   Anyway, when she started kindergarten I started to write, and every day I manage to write about something quasi-interesting in our mundane little lives.

   Today’s Mundane: I am pleased to announce that she has had her last day as a kindergarten student and is now ready to move ahead into 1st grade!

   She came home today with a little goodie bag with some questionable choices for gifts:

   1. a laser light - who gives a 6-year-old a laser light? Thankfully it broke in the first hour of ownership.
   2. baggie of sand. Sand? really? It went right to the garbage can. She’s going to spend the summer at a beach camp, she will be bringing home more than enough sand as it is. We don’t need to import it from school.
   3. A book - finally something I can get behind.
   4. A diploma that states she has completed kindergarten. Yay!

   She goes tomorrow am for one last time for a whopping 2 hours. She will spend almost the same amount of time on the bus than at school but she is going. We’re getting our money’s worth out of the entire school year. Besides, it will be a party and she won’t want to miss it.

   To celebrate, she’s going to have lunch and then we will break all the rules and go have ice cream in the afternoon. As of noon tomorrow her summer vacation will have started.! Lord help us.

   

   Back in the Day: The first day of school

   We have 5 days before summer camp starts so hopefully we can find something for her to do. Her classmates will be in a similar predicament so perhaps they can just terrorize the neighborhood like we did in the good old days.

   I can’t believe we’ve come this far. It seems like yesterday we were putting her on the bus and now she’s much bigger and older and smarter and sweating to death like the rest of us because BW has some crazy thing where she enjoys being in a heatwave even though we have air conditioning.

   Because we’re a family that loves each other her we’re putting up with this for one more day and then the temps are supposed to drop to a more agreeable number. But the airco is going on in July - mark my words.

   We’ve gotten good use out of the pool this week and thank God fans are allowed with this rule:

   

   Keep your fingers away from the fan! yes, her shirt is backwards.

   I don’t think we would make it otherwise.

   That said, I said the same thing about having a child in kindergarten and we managed to make it to that milestone. I guess anything is possible if you put your mind to it.

   To many more milestones,

   TH and Co.

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4. Having a Lark in the Pool

   June 21, 2025

   We love our pool. I should know as I was in it.

   I never though the day would come that I would either say that I love a pool or that I would go in the pool, but today was a day of firsts.

   

   Photo by Etienne Girardet on Unsplash

   As I am sure a lot of you are aware we’re currently in a heat wave. It’s only going to be for a few more days then it cools off again - so instead of my default of turning on the air conditioning, we’re sweating it out.

   It’s like camping, but without having to drag a trailer across the country. We can be hot and uncomfortable right here at home.

   And speaking of uncomfortable - guess what happens when your child finally goes to bed after 9pm and then gets up before six. That’s right! I have heard more whining today than I would like.

   She had a perfect day too, She woke up too early and crawled into my bed and kicked me and whined until I decide that despite just six hours of sleep, I would rather be anywhere than in my own bed. I decided that since, I’m awake I may as well go make a couple bucks and drive people to work so I left BW high and dry with our lovely little child.

   BW then somehow managed to get her clothed and they went over to the Lewiston garden festival to get somebody away from the tablet. Apparently it went relatively well except for the spilled lemonade that happened and resulted in some sleep-deprived howling.

   The child came back with a few freebies from the bank like a windmill and some bubbles. She was also bought a nice new hat:

   

   cheap bubbles from the local bank were the best thing that happened to her today.

   A pretty good day, yes?

   Well….no. There was still some whining and it kept getting hotter and hotter in here so at one point I said screw it - I’m going into the pool.

   For others, this might not be a big deal but for me, this is a big deal. I didn’t just hop in though - I made sure the temperature of the pool was hot enough - 90 degrees - so just about right.

   Then I got my drink, my Bluetooth speaker and sunglasses and I dove in. The first time in years I have been in the pool. The last time I went I was told by the child to be brave so I guess here I am - being brave. And, cooler.

   I guess this is a good time to tell you about this pool:

   This thing is just a little bigger than a kiddie pool. In fact, it pretty much is a kiddie pool, but you just can’t buy it at the dollar store.

   This Lark 7x7 Pool is not very big. I’ve been in hot tubs that are bigger. But for sitting down and cooling off - it was fantastic. In fact, more than fantastic. Of course, the child was being belligerent and would not get into the pool out of spite or lack of sleep or both,but then BW tossed her bathing suit on and came in too so eventually the child caved to the peer pressure and all 3 of us were in the pool at the same time.

   We ended up being in the pool for a good 2 hours and I would think that would make for a quick night: dinner - dessert - bed. Done.

   Nope, she made me work for it again tonight. In a way I don’t blame her - her parents are making her sweat it out and it’s still bright out. Summer is awesome, until it isn’t

   Now, back to the pool:

   We have bought some crap for her that she never touches - like the tent , but the pool has been a nearly everyday activity here this summer. Heck, it’s so neat that I was in it. I might even go in it again this summer.

   We did screw up at first as first time pool owners - and didn’t add chlorine to the pool because we thought it didn’t need it because it had a filter. Apparently pools get slimy. Who knew?

   A bit of googling and an Amazon order and now we’ve got test strips and chlorine and somehow we’ve got the water clean again and according to our test strips we’re doing a great job

   At $280.00, this pool has been a great deal and considering that our only plans for the summer are the pool and maybe a trip or two for some ice cream, I feel the pool will pay for itself this summer.

   Of course we then realized we needed all the other stuff like lawn chairs and tables and pool chemicals and pool noodles and temperature gauges and test strips and floating turtles. I bet we’re just at about $500 for the total. I doubt this pool will last forever but we should be able to get a few seasons out of it.

   As I sat in the cool pool watching her splash around and have the time of her life I thought to myself:

   This is so worth it.

   Keep Swimming,

   TH and Co.

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5. The Pet Store

   June 20, 2025

   One night I will get her to bed on time. This was not the night. Also, pets.

   This is not a story about a pet store. At least, not in the way you might be thinking.

   

   Photo by Peter Plashkin on Unsplash

   I have no idea what got into the child tonight but from about 6 pm onward, she would not listen about anything that I had to say.

   The night seemed to go in slow motion as we tried everything to get her to put her PJ’s on and just go to bed. Good lord, she was exhausted.

   She had a great day. The ladies went out to the farm to pick strawberries and there was a bunch of corn the kids could play in and some other farm attractions too. They liked it so much they bought a season pass because they’re going to go back next week when school is out to get more berries!

   They came home, had lunch and she was chilling on the couch when I came home. After a while she lost interest and despite the heat, we went on a scoot around the block to get some energy out.

   Then, the pool for an hour.

   And just when we gave up home for any friends in the neighborhood, one of her friends came over and asked her to play in his pool. Same pool, different venue.

   She was there going full-tilt for over an hour.

   By the time she got to dinner she was toast. Eye rubbing and yawns - the whole bit.

   But she would not just go to bed.

   She was up a million times tonight.

   This brings us back to the pet store. I pulled out all the tricks tonight and none worked so at this point I just gave up

   “Just stay in your room”, I told her.

   Of course, she comes out and she wants a blanket to make a nest on the floor. Okay, fine - blanket.

   Goodnight, Go to Bed, Door Closed

   I go down to my man cave to start to write this and I get a tap on my back: It’s the child.

   “What now?”. I ask.

   “I’m worried about the pets”, she says.

   PETS? OMG!

   I ask her what she’s talking about and I still don’t understand so we go back upstairs for the fifteenth time and she shows me the “pet store”, where she has her stuffed animals sorted by size in the corners of her room.

   I tell her that the small ones need the most care, so if she were to sleep upside down with her head at the foot of the bed she could keep an eye on them - and most importantly - stay in the bed!

   She didn’t like that idea but decided that sleeping under a heavy blanket surrounded her pets would be best.

   OKay….whatever. goodnightiloveyou.

   I walk out and close the door.

   I haven’t heard a peep since, so I’m going to assume she’s finally asleep.

   It’s going to be a long summer without the threat of a school day to tighten up the bedtime routines.

   I’m going to have to start taking naps so I will be able to be awake as long as she is.

   Goodnight,

   TH and Co.

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