It’s the last day of school here, exactly a week until the longest day of the year, and my ability to sleep soundly has vanished.

Summer sleep is the worst. Too much heat, too much sun. The kids understandably struggle to go to bed when the sun is still up. The thin quilt on our bed just doesn’t feel right. In the evenings people walk up and down my street talking loudly as they return from the restaurant on our corner. My mosquito bites itch more in the evenings. And did I mention that it’s light out constantly? There is only so much the blackout shades can do.

The real nail in the coffin of my sound sleep is the very nature of summer itself. The kids are home all the time, the house is constantly a mess, and I am always sweaty. We travel back and forth between the cabin and our home in the city all summer long and damned if I can remember which place is running low on butter. Which adult is supposed to have the car today? But I still have to remember to go grocery shopping and do allowance and scoop cat litter and arrange social activities for everyone.

The dark and cold of winter is so much better for my sleep. And the solid rhythms of the kids back in school. Grocery shopping on Monday morning. Piano lessons on Wednesday afternoon.

I thrive on habit, not on novelty, and although I am looking forward to having my kids home all summer, I am also looking forward to starting the long slide toward the solidity of the winter solstice and my good sleep.