The REAL dog days.

According to Wikipedia, "The Romans referred to the dog days as diēs caniculārēs and associated the hot weather with the star Sirius. They considered Sirius to be the "Dog Star" because it is the brightest star in the constellation Canis Major (Large Dog)."

For me, the real 'dog days' of summer are those days at the end of the season when camp is over for my daughter and school has yet to be begin.  I always jokingly refer to these days as 'camp mommy,' but in truth, there's nothing fun about these days for either mother or daughter.  The type A moms may scoff at me but it's true -- it's very difficult to keep my daughter entertained, especially when she's got several different diagnoseses that make her 'different' from other kids.  And I'm not going to lie: typical 'camp mommy' activities like going to a theme park (or any park or pool for that matter) suddenly become that much more difficult.  And mommy gets her sanity from the GYM.  And gym classes.   Mommy cannot be at the gym getting her sanity on and simultaneously entertaining mini-me.

Don't get me wrong: it's not like I haven't tried.  Some kids do well in gym babysitting, just not mine.  Social 'disabilities' such as Aspergers Syndrome make it very hard for my child to function in gym babysitting on a crowded day.  When mommy just wants to take that 30 minutes of spin class or do 'just five more crunches,' in the back of my mind I'm waiting for that page: "Attention, staff...there's a situation in babysitting...can the mother of the child-to-blame please come to babysitting?"  And I have to put my daughter in babysitting during those daytime hours when I have clients scheduled - there's NO getting around the fact that clients come first.  So any additional time I get at the gym is like a gift from the summertime gods.

Oh, Dog Days.

So what's a mom to do?  Besides grovel at the feet of my adoring husband who graciously allows me to bolt out the door like a guilty person frees a prison the moment he arrives home no matter how miserable the work day, I mean?  What any woman would do for sanity's sake: shop, of course!  And yes, I've purchased shoes, and costume jewelery too, but here's what I'm super giddy about: MY NEW TOYS!  "Which new toys," you may ask?

Unfortunately for my said adoring husband, time at home allows me to catch up on TV time, which gives me nothing but "ideas."  But hey, they're "Healthy ideas from which the entire family can benefit," so the purchases are for the 'greater good,' right?  And far more practical (if not less adorable) than my new wedge sneakers from Steve Madden.  But I loooove my new toys.  SWOON.  Reviews soon to follow.  And soon my daughter will know the summer joys of making mango chips as opposed to baking cookies on a hot summer camp mommy day. 

WOOF.