BATTEN down the hatches. Next stop, Christmas – well, in terms of public holidays. The longer evenings are drawing in. Summer '21 feels like a distant memory already.
The send-off was great, though. A week of warm weather after what seemed like never-ending torrential rain was the perfect way to prepare for the return of school... and the routine.
The routine saves the sanity of working parents. The summer can be a nightmare for childcare arrangements, depending on your set up.
Childminders need time off, summer schemes and clubs can be expensive. Bad weather means being stuck in the house all day, with the potential to drive each other mad. Rainy days with a full house just feel like another lockdown, even if we are only cooped up for 24 hours.
Despite having a world of distractions at their finger tips, teenagers still get 'bored' easily, while the small child in my life just wants to spend every waking hour outside. I would need to be cloned to keep up with her. The only thing for it was... Play parks. Praise be the play parks.
I have threatened many times to put together a directory of play parks with an evaluation. Until this year, I had never taken them under my notice.
Now, I want to know where all the best play parks are. Even the most basic parks nowadays are a huge improvement on the concrete monstrosities which masqueraded as play parks when we were young.
The quality of the play park very much depends on the location. A few that I have visited this summer would benefit from some maintenance. A power wash and clean, working toilets would not go amiss.
Thanks to my research during summer '21, I now have a top three and I will keep their locations to myself until I don't need them any more.
A quiet-ish play park with a borderline terrible-two on your hands is a blessing, especially when she thinks that she owns the slides. She tells the other boys and girls, 'No, no, no, no', as they queue up behind her, patiently waiting to take their turn. Meanwhile, Mummy is mortified.
There is an unspoken etiquette employed in play parks. I see other parents inwardly growling at and possibly scolding other kids for swinging on the baby swings, running wild through the play park, hogging the swing for too long or pushing ahead of other children for 'my turn'.
While some parents – like me – sweat the small stuff, others take it in their stride. I saw many parents sit and read a book while their children enjoyed themselves.
That might be me in the future, but for now you will find me trying to keep up with the boss as she bolts from the slide, to the swings, to the climbing frame that is much too advanced for her.
It is also very challenging to socially distance at the play park. Timing the visit is everything.
The play park was the live action spectator sport of the summer for me. I watched the rest online or on television. From Wimbledon, to reluctantly investing in the Euros, being captivated by the Olympics and the Paralympics and currently the GAA championships, my weeks have revolved around taking an interest in a particular athlete or team.
Kellie Harrington has been my hero of the summer so far. The Armagh Ladies, Antrim Camógs and Tyrone men's footballers are my teams.
I hope that I don't have to put in another summer of not having live music in my life. I miss music and the music community more than words can say.
I'm not sure what kind of score card I would give summer '21. I didn't expect much, so I haven't been too disappointed. I did not feel the need to head off on a sun holiday.
Regardless of the pandemic, sun holidays never appealed to me. For as long as I have a toddler in my life, the airport experience alone is a turn off, never mind trying to have a 'holiday'.
As described in this column earlier in the summer, I don't think that there is such a thing as a 'holiday' when you have a toddler in your life.
It might have been the summer of simplicity. Fish and chips at the seaside, and A-Z of play parks, and taking in the sunset.
I hope that we get to experience another few magical summer sunsets before summer 2021 signs off.
