Tara Crisan Sweatt

Next week will be the last for the 2022-2023 school year.

To many of us grownups, the year has flown by in a flurry of fun and festivities from homecoming to graduation. Sports teams have placed on state and national levels. Athletes have signed for scholarships. The Bulldog Bowtie Theater Company took CEPA by storm with their production of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.

It is a fair wager the kids did not have the same experience. Who among us doesn’t remember when the days between Monday and Friday were an eternity? And the ticking of the clock before a vacation started? Excruciating. No one can blame them for looking forward to sleeping in and no homework. Still there is more to do.

Childmind.org and many other parenting websites recommend three days a week of supervised activities. “Challenging kids will teach kids grit and broaden their world view whether it is sports, trying out for a play, or a new social setting.” It should be something to which the child is already inclined as “forcing could cause anxiety.” Maintaining some kind of schedule helps with the transition when school starts.

Fortunately, St. Clair County has something for kids with all interest and inclinations. The extension office is holding a 4H summer camp. Camp Winnetaska is in Pell City. Camp Utopia is in Springville. The Spotlight Kids Summer camp is in June. All the libraries have a summer reading programs. Sports clinics, such as the one for volleyball at Ashville High School, are being taught among others.

Just a day trip to the new Pell City Museum, Horsepen 40, Tigers for tomorrow can not only be educational, it might just spark an interest in children they didn’t know they had. Then there are the events for everyone.

The block party in Pell City in June is in many travel guides and attracts people from all over the state. The same can be said for Springville’s Homestead Hollow. There will be lakeside events, outdoor movies, fireworks everywhere and, again, more.

Then there are the simple pleasures those of us of a certain age recall: chasing lightening bugs, the taste of Honeysuckle nectar, hide and seek with the neighborhood kids, backyard camping and picnics with whatever’s in the fridge. These simple pleasures are priceless. Priceless as in no value can be placed, and priceless as in free.

Time to start planning because this season will past fast for kids of all ages.