This is 39ish Life: Josie

I’m a native Gainesvillian and yes, I’m 39ish … (41, almost 42) Eeek.

I’m married to an awesome guy (13 years now) and together we have six children! I love spending time with my family, taking trips to the beach, watching home improvement shows on HGTV (sometimes binge-watching), reading, exploring, cheering for my UF Gators, and traveling.

I am a mother, stepmother, wife, sister, sister-in-law, friend, daughter, aunt, and I love my huge family! I look forward to life’s adventures every day and love living in North Central Florida!

Right now, my 39ish Life seems to be more unscripted than ever, partly because its summertime and partly because I want it to be!

Enjoying life unscripted … this is my way of thinking lately.

With three busy kids in our house, one beginning his second year in middle school, one in fourth grade and one starting kindergarten (!), I am trying to keep this summer, the summer of “easy fun.” This means no set schedules, no camps, no workshops, etc. This summer, the only schedules being set are being set by me. Do we have camps or lessons planned? No. Do we have playgroups every day and full calendars? No. Do I feel bad about it? Not really. This summer, my kids are enrolled in the best camp … MOM Camp!

I think back on my own childhood and remember doing lots of fun things without any camps or activities planned. If we said we were bored, my mom would say, “I have some jobs for you to do…” and that ended our cries of boredom. We would go outside and play in the hose, take an occasional trip to the beach, write scripts for plays, videotape each other doing “fake commercials,” you name it. With all the choices today of things to do and to get your children involved in, sometimes I yearn for a time when doing nothing was more acceptable.

Call me lazy, but the older I get, the easier I want my life to be. (By the way, this is very hard for me because I am usually a very organized planner who likes to look ahead as much as possible.) However, for now, I am trying to live a less scripted, less stressful, less routine way of life … no plans, no deadlines, no immediate stress. If only for a few weeks during the summer!

*Stay tuned for more posts in this special series, “This is 39ish Life.”

Love (and be unscripted!) more,

Dana