Texas

Look at this fun, summertime scene. Warm sun, kids in bathing suits cooling off on their new Spiderman Slip N Slide. Why then, does just looking at this picture frustrate the living daylights out of me? Because this picture was taken on October 5. October. Isn't October one of the autumn months? And isn't autumn supposed to be about falling leaves and cool, crisp air? Well, apparently Texas didn't get the memo because it is a nice, hot 90 degrees most days around here lately. The grass is still green and all the leaves are firmly attached to the trees. Kids here usually spend Halloween sweating profusely and removing their masks and any fur every three houses to avoid heat stroke. There are usually two football games per season where you actually feel a chill. Flip flops are dang near year-round. And frankly, I'm sick of it.

Do you know how hard it is as a mother (or former teacher), to explain fall to children in Texas? I remember sitting in my Kindergarten classroom saying "Ok class, today is September 21, the first day of autumn. What are some things we know about autumn?" Let's answer that question, shall we? The weather starts to become cooler. Not here. The leaves change colors. Nope. They fall to the ground. Huh uh. Ok, the days do get a bit shorter, but most 4 and 5 year olds don't know what time it is anyway, so that doesn't help. So how are you supposed to explain the changing seasons to a child when the dadgum seasons don't change???? We have a short bit of winter and maybe, just maybe about a month of spring before the sweltering heat starts all over again. I've had it. And I want to discuss this with whoever is in charge of the weather in Texas. The best part of the Slip N Slide, besides the sheer joy in the girls' faces, was the fact that it was on clearance. Because it's fall and who buys a Slip N Slide in the fall?
Well, apparently, I'm the only one griping over this. I'm going to go put on my tube top and flip flops and take these kids to the park this morning. You know what they say..."If you can't beat 'em, join 'em."