Summertime Blues  

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I like the country song by the name. I don't think it really has much to do with the phenomenon of the summertime blues though. The original song (Eddie Cochran)is about teenage trials and tribulations. Funny that part of it deals with the inability of teens to vote. Back in the day here in the U.S. the voting age was 21, but thanks to the 26th ammendment it was dropped to 18.

Ok now that we have our American History lesson out of the way on to the point. Summertime blues are real I'm convinced. I don't think that they belong only to teenagers either. It's a feeling of "blah". Granted kids are more likely to feel the full effect, since they will be constantly telling their parents how there is nothing to do all summer long and they are so bored. Then school will come and they will tell their parents how summer flew by and they were just starting to have a good time. That's the normal cycle of things. How about the adults feeling it? I think that it's a reversal of how kids feel. Many parents feel overwhelmed at summer. The kids are out of school, and many parents are making a mad dash to find a way to watch their kids while still making a living.

So mom or dad have to adjust their schedules as much as possible. They have to call in favors to watch the kids, or if they are lucky enough to have the funds, get a babysitter or daycare. No longer is it acceptable for parents to leave their children home alone. I'm not saying it doesn't happen, I'm just saying that johnny law (the popo) frowns upon it. My 12 year old is I'm sure quite capable of handling any situations that might come his way, but in today's world of home invasions I wouldn't even consider it an option. I like many other parents will call in favors and adjust my schedule, my wife will adjust hers and we will fumble and fall through summer.

In today's economy, two incomes are in most cases necessary. That means we do what we have to do. Some of us will take lesser jobs so that we are still getting a check and still able to watch our kids. Some will work out a deal with their employers and get "laid off" for the summer and draw unemployment. Not many options are available and most parents are resourceful enough to find everything available anywhere near them.

It makes me remember back to my childhood a little bit. As a young boy we had a day camp at our local school. High School kids looking for extra money would be "counselors" at the elementary schools. They would have games and activities, like arts and crafts, or if we were really lucky a movie reel on really hot days to watch a movie. There were usually about 10 High School students and there were roughly 75 or 80 of us at day camp. It was a good time, and even the counselors had fun much of the time. The school district doesn't budget for things like that anymore. I can't blame teen kids for not volunteering for it either. They are trying to figure out how they are going to pay for college, or gas, or any other multitude of things that mom and dad can't pay for them anymore.

So let Summer begin, and next week, let the full on effect of the Summertime Blues be here. I'm feeling it sneaking up on me, but I know that come mid August things will fall back into some sort of normal. Just like the song says....

"Sometimes I wonder what I'm gonna do cause there ain't no cure for the Summertime Blues."

50 years later it's still true................

This entry was posted at Tuesday, June 08, 2010 and is filed under , , , . You can follow any responses to this entry through the comments feed .

8 comments

He, Bendigo...when I was a kid we had the same thing, as I recall!
I can remember sitting in one of the rec halls, with my sisters and my brother, and the 'big' kids were entertaining us, and playing movies with those old film projector things!
It makes we wonder where they got the movies...

June 8, 2010 at 12:47 PM

Summertime! Summertime! Yippee! Then I like Fall! And I pretty much sleep or hibernate during the winter. LOL.

June 8, 2010 at 6:49 PM

Oh so true...I wonder if it has anything to do with this dreadful heat? It's 98 here in Baton Rouge with 100% humidity, feels like I could walk right outside a go fishing in the air.

June 8, 2010 at 7:56 PM

I had a sitter, all those years ago, but always adored summer. It was never boring. Now, it's just too dreadfully hot! How did we ever survive the heat?

June 8, 2010 at 8:23 PM

Joe...back then they were available through the school. They could go sign em out and use them as long as they brought them back the same day...good times

Momma Fargo...Lol..Summertime in your neck of the woods might be really nice, but in the valley where I live it is regularly over 100 degrees. ALTHOUGH this summer could be mild as we have had not too bad days so far.

Desertson...Humidity is the reason I left the East Coast while in the military and haven't been back. I'll take the dry heat any day..

Ms. Anthropy...Maybe it's because we had so much going on that we didn't worry about the heat all that much. I remember playing the canals back in the day, and it's sure funny none of us died. And parents didn't go crazy when they found out the kids were swimming in the river and canals either...

June 8, 2010 at 10:02 PM

Just by the title alone I was singing that song to myself as I read your blog.

June 9, 2010 at 1:45 AM

I get the summertime blues, but I think it's mostly because as an adult, I don't have a summer anymore. It's not a time to look forward to, now it's just hot as Hades...

June 9, 2010 at 9:19 AM

My parents shipped me to day camp all summer long, so it's a good thing that I loved it! Arranging schedules must be really tough, though, I don't know how you do it

June 10, 2010 at 2:00 PM

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