The problem with summer ...

It will soon be bathing suit season.

It is not a time of year I look forward to much.

While I love summer because of BBQ's, vacations with family, camps for the kids and the laid back feel that sort of naturally accompanies the season, the very mention of the word summer strikes fear into my core.

The thought of summer does not spark daydreams of endless days on the beach or long lazy walks in short shorts, tank tops and flip flops ... not anymore anyway ... not at age thirty three.

Because ... it's bathing suit season.

Because I have to leave behind my jeans and sweaters that hide the imperfections and put myself "OUT THERE" for all to see.

Because, obviously, Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee want to go swimming. They want to swim whenever they can. As often as they can. And their combined weight matches that of my right thigh, so what's the big deal for them, right?

They don't have to worry about stretch marks or cellulite.

Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee can still RUN in their bathing suits and people will think it's cute.

I find at the end of each summer day my muscles are extremely tense from trying to control the amount of jiggle each part of my body is capable of.

And, to make matters worse, when I'm not in some horrible swimwear I'm expected to wear shorts (or some kind of comparable clothing item) ... and my goodness, who the heck came up with shorts???

(I should say at this point that I wasn't always so offended by shorts on my body, but a few decades and two kids have passed since that time and now I'm forced to get by with capri's and that means I'm basically embracing mom-hood and have given up on ever having attractive legs again not to mention the fact that I don't care what anyone says, capri's are just as hot as wearing pants, so really, what is the point?)

And then there is the whole problem of footwear in the summer. I have a foot odor problem ... most of the time ... and summer just makes that whole scenario worse.

Seriously ... have you ever had to go to someones house in the summer thinking it was for an outdoor BBQ so you wore your really cute but stinky sandals because it didn't matter because you were going to be outside for the night only to arrive as it starts raining so you're forced to take off the stinky sandals and casually ask for the bathroom so you can go and try to find a way to wash your feet so you don't kill everyone at the BBQ?

Yeah, I didn't think so ...

Apparently I am the only one on the planet who has this level of stress over clothing and footwear in the summer.

But my kids LOVE the summer. And I love playing in pools with them and running around outside with them and coming up with great adventures we can tackle together during those long lazy days.

So, I choose to squeeze myself into whatever piece of waterproof spandex is currently passing for my bathing suit, or put on my most comfortable pair of capri's (aka: mom-pants), suspend my ego for the season, and run around making memories for my kids ... and for me ...