I know your kids are fighting, complaining they are bored, and eating you out of house and home, but please, stop wishing away summer vacation.

From the end of June until Labor Day is my favorite time of the year. I don't have to share my kids with anyone. From morning until night, they are mine all mine.

I am not setting any alarms because no longer does the bus schedule rule our lives. There are not any homework assignments due tomorrow. Nor are there any dioramas to build, costumes to make, or speeches to write.

I don't even need to know where to locate the pencil sharpener or the pack of looseleaf.

I have a brief reprieve from having to run to the store to get oak tag. Thankfully, the Science Fair is about eight months away.

Flip flops can be the footwear of choice. Little sneakers can hide under the beds a little while longer, because nobody that lives here has PE tomorrow.

I no longer need to live in fear of a little one remembering, as she runs out the door, that she volunteered me to bake 60 cupcakes...and by the way, they need to be there in two hours.

Breakfast isn't rushed. We eat pancakes and omelets instead of handfuls of dry cereal followed by a milk chaser. Ziploc bags can stay tucked away in the cabinet, because lunches don't need to be packed.

Summer is a very freeing time for me.

Our days are spent playing outside, spraying each other with the garden hose, jumping on the trampoline, and riding bikes. Summertime means freezer pops become one of the food groups, and homemade lemonade and iced tea is always readily available.

Snuggles on the couch in the middle of the afternoon are a regular occurrence around here.

Of course there is yelling and fighting and complaining, but it is all worth it. I get to spend the summer memorizing every freckle on my kids little noses. It won't be long before butterfly kisses become a thing of the past.

Summer vacation is the one time of year I can really enjoy my kids without the responsibilities of homework, tests, and bedtimes.

You only get 18 summers to make memories. Time with our children is precious yet fleeting. Those summers, they go by so fast. 18 summers filled with catching lightning bugs, drive-in movies, getting buried in the sand, and sticky ice cream kisses.

My oldest has already left the nest and I only have one more summer with my second oldest daughter.

Is it possible to squeeze a few more years worth of memories into this summer? What will she remember about her 18 summers with us?

Blueberry picking?

Blowing bubbles?

The beach?

Love.

She will remember love.

It's only July. I beg you, please stop counting down the days until school starts again.