Come on, Summer!

Summer is finally here—and it’s not just the sun that shines!

This is also the season in which grandparents can shine their brightest too!

Whether our grandchildren live in a two-parent or single-parent household, and regardless of whether one or both parents are employed outside the home or if one is a full-time caregiver—by the time summer rolls around, most parents are ready for a break.

That’s where the silver generation steps up and steps in!

Especially for those fortunate enough to have reached the Promised Land of retirement, most grandparents are eager to welcome those precious grandchildren to their homes as well as their hearts to enjoy some summer fun.

This will be my first full summer season of being retired, and I am really looking forward to spending as much time as possible with my grandkids.

My first instinct is to just drive to their houses and snatch them up, but I try to be polite and respect their parents’ insistence on giving priority to the various camps, clinics and sporting events the grandkids have signed up to attend.

So I smile and tap my foot and wait patiently while my kids review their calendars, marking off which days and weeks are already allocated to games, practices, tournaments, classes, family vacations, holidays, birthdays, special occasions, sleepovers …

My initial hopes of having the grandkids all to myself for three solid months dwindle rapidly as all those dates are X’ed off the calendar, leaving me with one day here, two days there, an evening here and a morning there.

Oh well. I’ll take what I can get.

One of the reasons my grandkids enjoy spending time with me is because we live by a completely different set of rules. Ice cream for breakfast? Why not! Stay up late? Sure thing! Wear two different socks? Who cares!

Of course, sometimes it’s just a matter of “different” automatically being “better.” For example, if they have to feed their dog at home, it’s a chore, but if they feed my dog at my house, it’s a treat.

Games and activities at my house are exciting and interesting because these are things they don’t do at home. I am well aware that if they played Old Maid, Bingo and checkers at home all the time, these games would quickly become boring, but because they are played only at my house, they are fun.

I scour the calendar on the VisitOwensboro.com website to find festivals and other fun (and mostly free) events to attend. Summer 2023 promises the Strawberry Festival, OSO Summer Salute, Live on the Banks, Friday After

5, Porch Fest, ROMP, Bluegrass Jam, Air Show, Reid’s Market Days, Drone Light Show, Bridge Day, BBQ and Barrels, Living History presentations, GeoWoodstock, All-American Fourth of July … the list goes on and on!

And these special events are in addition to the amazing things that are always happening at Theatre Workshop of Owensboro, the Western Kentucky Botanical Garden, Owensboro Museum of Fine Art, Owensboro Museum of Science and History and the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame and Museum.

Anyone who says there is nothing to do in Owensboro is not trying very hard.

So come on, Summer! And come on, grandkids! Let’s go!

Because here’s the secret … the thing grandparents know that parents are just beginning to understand:

The years fly by, summers are short, and children grow up.

Let’s shine while we can. OP