I am dreading the “dog days” of summer when my kids will be out of school. The Farmers’ Almanac is predicting a “stormy, sizzler ahead.” I can already see me standing there dripping with so much sweat that you’d think a glacier is melting, with the kids looking miserable complaining that there is nothing to do. How about making your bed, cleaning your room, or vaccuming? Uh-uh…don’t even think about it. “C’mon, get over yourself,” my son will say when I suggest that he clean up mud tracked from a water fight. Before my kids drive me stark raving mad, I have a few things I’d like to confess and get off my chest.
#1. I am writing an autobiography entitled, “Why I Hate My Kids.”
2.The bubble cap I wear in the pool is vintage.
I bought it on eBay. It was owned by swimmer Esther Williams, affectionately known as “America’s Mermaid” back in the 1950s.
3.)I believe that I was a mermaid in a former life.
4.)I’m worried that my bathing suit won’t fit. I tell people that I have a thyroid problem but I’ve gained 14 pounds in six months by eating donuts.
It’s hard to say exactly what drives me the most crazy when the kids are out of school. The sound of the jingle blaring from the ice cream truck is definitely a pet peeve. 
So is washing beach towels, making camp lunches, and listening to kids whine. For those lucky enough to have nannies, beach clubs, or expensive sleepaway camps, the thought of summer may be a pleasing one. But for the majority of women on a budget, it’s only going to get as good as a beach ball from Walmart and a trip down to the local beach. 
Like most mothers, my summer survival kit includes bug spray for all those horseflies, wasps and mosquitos. But the thing that really bugs me is how many weeks these pesty kids are out of school. What bugs you the most about the summer?