I realize summer’s not over until the fat tanned lady sings, or until September 22, but now that school’s back in business, summer feels like a memory. And soon, my beans will need to write stories about their summer. It’s inevitable. As a writer, I resist the urge to touch their stories in any way. As a mother, I dare not correct their misspellings and grammatical errors. It takes major willpower. If I do it for them, they don’t learn, we all know. In lieu of meddling with their writing, however, I ask that they tell us stories (complete with a clear beginning, middle, and end) over dinner. Prompting them with questions only then. Hopefully it will eventually translate to the page.

So I don’t forget, here are some captured moments from our summer…