Summer routine: do those words even belong together?

This has been our longest summer break by far since Isaac left school when we moved in April.  At first, I was pretty on top of dividing his time between home-school, play, and nightly routines.  But after being away for over a week at the end of May, let's just say I've, well, completely failed at that recently.  The affect is a little boy who argues for a sense of control and a frustrated mom.  I'm realizing that I need to get things back on track before school starts, or we're in for a lot of notes home or worse. 

How do I know that Isaac misses having the routine school provided?  He pretty much told me.  On the way to his Kindergym class last Thursday he said, "Mama, I miss Miss Minda and my old school and teachers."  He said it with the pathetic, Oliver Twist tone that he reserves for making me feel really guilty.  He lit up the minute we got to the class, eager to be with other kids and learning.  The trouble is that there are only three more Kindergym classes and they are only once a week.  The community center called me tonight to inform me that the art class I signed him up for had been cancelled due to lack of interest.  That was going to be once a week for four weeks, also.  I can just picture him once Kindergym is over looking up at me with those sad, blue eyes, "Can I have some more, please?"

So, I'm brainstorming.  For sure, I need to reinstate daily school time and a little more structure to our day.  But I think I also need to head to two of the suburban mom's pillars of socialization and sanity: the library and church.  Luckily, we found a church that doesn't feel like a country club or an outpost for the KKK.  Now I just need to tell them all of my obsessive-mom food warnings before letting him attend anything for children.  That shouldn't be too hard.  I'll just call up the church and say, "Hi, I've only attended here once, but could you please adhere to the following guidelines for my child?  Oh, and for the first few times he might squeak at your youth pastor rather than answer any questions in an audible tone."  I'm no longer above this.  I'm realizing that if I want Isaac to be successful in certain situations, I need to be the one to pave the way.  Even if paving the way means getting myself and a mouthy four year old out the door on Sunday mornings. 

Here's to a better week with the routine monster.  May I fight off summer laziness in return for a happy kid.  After all, it's a only a few short months til school, IEP meetings, and what we all fear- the unknown.