The Summer Melt

On prompts, days that laze together, and learning how (or not) to take a breather.

I’m here to write you something. On a Friday morning in June, in my light-filled office, a stolen moment while one child miraculously sleeps past 6am and the other is downstairs watching National Geographic kids with her (saintly) father.

How does summer find you?

Did you piece the childcare together like a game of tetris in a spreadsheet that you started in December? Are you flying by the seat of your pants trusting that balance will return, one day. (Some of both here.)

Does the sunshine revive you? Or do the black flies swarm and remind you to keep moving, to make your own breeze?

I am fighting a start of summer cold, after a weekend (I know, it’s already Friday) where I ran a 25K I had been training for for months. By all accounts, I exceeded all of my own expectations in terms of time and feeling, despite a day where there were knee-deep mud puddles on the trails and a steady rain. This week though, my body says slow down, take a breather. And, I’m not so good at that.

see that tiny speck in the center? me, 13 miles in.

There are some things I’ve been thinking about as life marches on, and I hurriedly make voice notes in my phone on long runs, car rides, and dog walks. I intend to be more consistent here, and am cataloguing what I’m thinking about and want to share. Humor me, and consider the below.

What I’m thinking about for Work Mom in the future + “prompts” for this week:

1. How do we stay deeply human in a world of AI, remote, and tech advances that surpass any capabilities our brains previously thought possible? I am not AI-resistant and use it in my daily work/personal life (please, please don’t try to do an insurance analysis without AI, for one). But I feel us grasping for the most tactile parts of lives - the pieces that no AI LLM could manufacture. A river rock collection, school art portfolios, silly songs made up on the spot. What are you putting your hands, feet, heart into that is tactile and grounded perhaps in the Earth and/or human connection?

   1. Related - I hear the word “prompt” thrown around so often these days. “Prompt better. Feed in the right prompts.” What “prompts” in the tactile world create the best results, the most surprising realizations, the insight you were looking for? I have my own inklings; things like a long run/walk, a phone down wander in the garden, an afternoon of “puttering”. I want to hear yours and write more on this.

2. In depth interviews with working parents. I mean, duh. But I was thinking about this recently as I got to know a new friend better. She mentioned she’s out for work 6am-4pm four days a week…questions ensued. I learned she is a mechanical engineer and now works in a production facility for semiconductors. This on top of having two school age kids and also being very engaged with our local school politics. I was fascinated. We need to all hear a wide range of how this working parenting works.

3. How do you keep up with your friends? In person? Phone calls? Group/individual texts? Voice notes? Snail mail? In the phase of life I’m in, sometimes this feels like it falls over a ledge, especially with long distance friends (of which I have so many and I just wish I chat a the playground with you!). This is a longer topic to explore, but in this moment, I’m taking the pressure off, and also sending a message or two of love and appreciation to the people in my life.

The summer melting of the days and weeks is in full effect. The summer melt - that’s what I’ve been calling it as we look at which weeks have camps, which ones are a split of babysitters/friends/playdates and parent care, and which ones are trips or excursions. The melt is also the way summer days laze along - slower mornings, free flowing days and afternoons, and of course, later bedtimes. One big melt!

Talk soon - I’ll be back! xoxo.