Amanda Lamb: Summer lovin'

Summer always seems like a good idea when it first lands on your doorstep - warm, but not too hot, full of vacation plans and promise, smelling of honeysuckle, suntan lotion, and watermelon.

But, as the weeks go on, watching teens sleep until eleven, eat cereal for every meal, and binge on Netflix, gets old. That's when parents begin to long for the less humid and more structured confines of the school year.

Don't get me wrong: I'm a summer person for sure. I love everything about summer, about being outside in the summer months. It's one of the reasons I wisely made the decision to make North Carolina my home. But let's face it, kids, especially teenagers, do better with structure, and in turn, so do we.

I know what you're thinking -"Amanda, come spring you're going to write that blog about how you can't wait for the school year to end and for summer to begin." You got me. I'm a writer, what can I say, angst comes with the territory. I prefer to look at it this way: All of the seasons have their own special magic and purpose. As one begins to morph into the next one, I look forward to it. Yes, by next spring I will be longing for summer again. 

Until school starts, we will eke out the last few weeks of summer, enjoying one more quick beach trip, eating ice cream more than we should and walking at dusk as the summer sun dips beneath the trees around the lake casting shadows on our brilliant memories made in the summer of 2015.