Daddy Daddy The Track

– by Shannon Carpenter

It’s All About July

July is about warm summer breezes as you sit under a tree with a root that makes a good footrest. It’s about picnics with egg salad that you would never make unless it was July, and you were on your way to a picnic. In the summer, in July, it’s about forgetting the start of the year and about ignoring what comes next. July is about the now.

July is for late nights and late mornings with friends and family. It’s saying yes when your little ones ask if they can stay up just a little bit longer, and then watching them fall asleep on the couch with a smile on their face. Oh, they tried to stay up, but early sunshine and water parks sap the energy of the best of us.

It’s the time for road trips where you walk away from your phones and run towards an adventure. It never matters where the adventure is in July, because you’re already in the adventure. It is the journey and the destination all rolled into one beautiful month. Big balls of twine, The World’s Largest anything, the one of a kind. That is July.

July is for fireworks that sparkle like a million lightning bugs. It’s hot dogs undercooked and hamburgers left too long on the grill. It’s about crinkling the water hose until your kid looks down the center of it and then letting it go. It’s about your children then running soaking wet through your house and jumping into mom and dad’s bed. It’s about not caring for just a moment and living the memory.

In July, and sometimes only during those dog-hot days when the leaves of trees sweat with humidity, it’s about realizing that you’ve made it through the first half of the year. That you’ve done so many loads of laundry that you dream about grass stains at night. You’ve cooked so many meals that you are sure you could be the best short-order cook in history and your Mac N Cheese game is on point. It’s about knowing that the smiles your family have is because you’ve made it to July.

Because here, in this month that is always your goal, and your halfway point is the month where you get to take a moment, just a very small second, to sit in a summer breeze underneath that tree. You allow yourself to drift to a place where there are no work deadlines, pointless meetings that aren’t at the splash parks, or computer screens with spreadsheets. In this place, you exist just to exist. As parents who are constantly on the run, where your life is dictated by schedules and diaper changes, in July, you get to be you. Even if just for a second.

Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas are months away. They try to wiggle their way into your brain, to get on the schedule, to formulate a plan. But not in July. Because July is for putting ladybugs in the garden and watching roly-polies crawl out of rocks toward little hands that want to discover the wonder of the world. And your older hands, those that are calloused and tired, gleefully showing them the way.

July is the deep breath before the rest of the year. It’s before daycare gives everyone the flu, the first day of kindergarten, and the last year of high school. July is the pat on the back for making it this far. July is to forgive broken bedtime routines, five a.m. commutes, and time spent away so that your family can thrive. July is the ‘atta boy you deserve.

Mistakes made in January are forgotten in the cold. February has leapt away, and March can beware of its own ides. In July, none of that matters anymore. What matters are snuggles under starlight, spooky stories told over dying campfires, and holding hands first thing in the morning.

That’s what July is all about. It’s about your family and you, and giving yourself the courtesy of forgetting all the rest, so you can make memories that will last until next summer.

Shannon Carpenter is the father of three and has been a stay-at-home dad since 2008. He’s the author of the book “Stayat-Home Dad: Your Essential Manual for Being an Awesome Full-Time Father.” as well as the co-host of Dadhouse Pod. In addition to his writing on parenting, he is also a humor writer trained through the famous Second City. And we all know that having a sense of humor is essential to surviving parenthood!

Family Movie Options: In Theaters and Streaming Online

Young mermaid Ariel is fascinated by the human world and Prince Eric, who she saved from drowning When Ursula the Sea Witch gives her a chance to live on land, Ariel takes it – but she doesn’t fully realize the price she’ll have to pay. Halle Bailey gives a star turn as Ariel and the movie provides Eric with a new backstory, but the film sti ll feels soulless. This isn’t a vibrant, magical tale: it’s just a bland, bloated cash grab on the part of Disney. That won’t stop kids from enjoying it but it may frustrate parents. Photo ©Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.

Miles Morales is struggling to keep his life in balance as he adjusts to being Spider-Man – and then Gwen reappears and takes him into the multiverse where they meet a team of Spider-People who protect every universe. The original Spider-Verse film was a groundbreaking work of animation, and this movie is even better. The animation is dazzling and the plot, although darker than the first film, remains satisfying. Spidey fans of all ages will find lots to enjoy here Photo ©Columbia Pictures

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts

The Maximals (giant transforming metal creatures) are on a mission to prevent Unicron (a planet-consuming entity) from finding a transwarp key This device allows the user to transport instantaneously across the galaxy and it has been hidden on Earth. There’s little doubt how this story will play o ut or how it will end Fans will appreciate the detailed action sequences and parents can be assured that the violence remains within PG-13 limits Photo ©Paramount Pictures

The Boogeyman Theaters ating Overall Violence Sex Profanity Alcohol/Drugs

PG-13 C+ C A C- D

Psychiatrist Will Harper has a new patient with a story about the deaths of his three kids, caused by a monstrous creature preying on children in the dark. When the patient dies, Will’s daughters start seeing something in the night Based on a Stephen King story, this is a creepy tale with good acting, solid dialogue, and a monster that relies more on imagination than gory effects . It’s an option for teens who want to try out a horror flick Photo ©20th Century Studios

Rally Road Racers

Rating Overall Violence Sex Profanity Alcohol/Drugs

PG A- A- A A- A

A slow loris named Zhi is thrilled when his car-racing idol, Archi Vainglorious, comes to his hometown and is then outraged to learn that Vainglorious wants to buy and bulldoze Zhi’s grandmother’s home. The two make a deal: if Zhi wins the Silk Road Rally, Grannie’s home is his Packed with physics-defying driving and stuffed full of positive messages, this is an innocuous cartoon that will be enjoyed by kids and, miraculously, not loathed by parents. Photo ©Viva Kids

– by Peggy Gisler and Marge Eberts