Summer "Break"

Summer is idealized as the best time of the year. As a time for fun, vacations, hanging out with friends, parties, a break from school, and just loads of fun full of new memories being made. However, for some people, like me, summer isn’t as fun. With things like summer school, extra credit classes, jobs, younger family members, responsibilities, forgotten friends, and obligations, summer doesn’t exactly seem like the break it’s made out to be. If anything it’s more like school was just replaced by other kinds of work to keep you busy. Everyone struggles with their own problems, but just one of these things can feel as if it is weighing down your summer and ruining your chances of fun. For example, out of what I named, at least four or five obtain to me. And summer isn’t quite the break i expected it to be. A little about my summer but how I’m managing:

First of all, School wise, my summer has still contained a few academic components. First of all, I took my first ACT on June 1st. Surprisingly I did pretty good for my first ACT and got a 31, but spending every night for a week before that reading and going over an ACT book for hours each night is definitely not my idea of fun. And it definitely took away from my summer. But it was my responsibility to take care of it so i could succeed on the test itself. Also, just the fact that I have joined Fiveable to write these blogs is some extra pressure, as I have to find time to work on these articles within my busy life. For example, right now I am staying up late to write this. And lastly, while I’m not taking courses over the summer, I still have one more test to complete before it ends. I have to work on getting my drivers permit, although I haven’t looked at the manual once. ( I have no need to drive :p)

Then there is the work. I don’t have a real job. In fact, i’m not even making much money at all. But i help my mom babysit every weekday, from as early as 7am to as late as 6pm. We have had up to 7 kids at a time (but typically 4-5). and trust me, we do not watch the best behaved kids. Out of the kids we babysit, there is a 1 year old boy that does nothing but throw tantrums and pick fights with my 2 year old nephew. My nephew, Henry, can be a sweetheart, but can also be a brat (no offense); He lives with us, so we deal with him getting into Everything, 24/7. But most of the time he will be well  behaved and often sits to watch movies. But his behavior also depends on the other kids we watch. From the older kids we have a 4 year old girl who is the best behaved, a 7 year old boy who has CP and can be a handful at times, and two 9 year old boys. One who is typically pretty well behaved, the other, probably the worst kid we watch. Never listens, argues, complains, and is often the cause of the two babies to be woke up early from naps. But to keep it simple, let's just say babysitting keeps me busy all day, making it impossible to have free time , or a break, of my own. Then when it comes to friends… I’m not the best in that department. I have friends, but ever since 5th grade I’ve had my closest of friends randomly decide they hate me and want nothing to do with me. Then the friends I have, are either rude to me half the time or only care about me when we are actually together at school. A couple examples, I’ve spent all summer texting all the friends I have wanting to find a time we could hang out or do something, some evening or weekend we are free. No one has been willing to actually make plans with me except one of my friends, who even then cancelled the day of. And an even worse example, last year for my 15th birthday we were going to do a mall scavenger hunt, a sleepover at my house, then my purity ceremony at church in the morning. I invited basically everyone I knew, at least 10 people, if not more. Only one person came, and didn’t stay for the whole thing either. So basically, the “fun” part of summer where you hang out with friends isn’t happening with me.

But to sum this all up, there is still a way to find a break within your summer, even if it isn't for long. While having a two year old nephew to take care of definitely keeps me, my mom, and my sister busy, but we are all going on a vacation this week! At least it’s a way to have a 10-day break, even with a toddler, an we plan on having fun! My next blog will most likely be about our trip, so can’t wait!