The calm before, after, during the storm

Anyone who lives in northeastern USA (or southeastern Canada) will understand the following:

Enough rain, already.

It's rained daily for the past ten days, and it's getting old. We had some sunny breaks yesterday and Friday, and were actually able to get outside for a little while. That was nice, but it's misty and drizzly here again today.

There are few situations worse than a beginning of summer vacation with three children who can't play outside. We've survived the past week, but I'm not looking forward to the next, when the forecast is for scattered thunderstorms every day. In the immortal words of the Pet Shop Boys: What have I, what have I, what have I done to deserve this?

I've been creating daily schedules for Abby, who relies on them to keep herself organized and calm. Even the increased visuals, however, couldn't prevent her from regressing to lining up toys yesterday -- a behavior she hasn't exhibited in years, literally. She's managing to hold on and stay functional, for the most part, but it's hard, both for her, and, by extension, for the rest of the family.

All three kids start summer school a week from tomorrow, and that will help. They're all looking forward to it, to the point of counting the days. I'll be relieved that I'll only need to keep everyone occupied productively for half the day, instead of all day long. And, frankly, the alone time in the morning will go a long way toward keeping me organized and calm.

I'm hoping that the week between now and the start of summer school will feature thunderstorms that are so widely scattered that they miss us more days than not.