Monday 12 September 2011

The End of Summer

On Saturday it was the Last Night of the Proms on the BBC.  This made me kinda sad.  You see, to me, it has always signalled the end of Summer.  The nights were getting longer and it was time to be back at school (yuck).  The freedom of choosing what to do every day was gone and I was back to varied amounts of boredom.  I love Summer.  I always have.  I am a total and utter, unashamed, Sun Bunny.  Nothing makes me happier than to head outdoors into the Sun or even a Summer Storm (freaking love those).  So when it was time to sit down and watch the Last Night of the Proms it was a signal that it was time to go back to 'normal' life.

In our house growing up, it became almost a tradition for me to sit down with my parents and watch the programme.  It was our way of marking the change of season, I suppose.  Sitting listening to classical music (even as a teenager I loved classical music) and then joining in with the songs at the end (my dad can't carry a tune in a bucket but he's still enthusiastic).

This year sitting down to watch it with the Cub in my arms was a special moment.  One of those moments that sort of happen without realising it.  We'd been watching (and cuddling) for more than half the programme when it occurred to me that we were starting a new tradition.  Hubby and I have sat and watched it since we got together and it just sort of extended to the Cub watching it too.  The Cub spent most of the programme snoozing but he was soaking it all up.  In years to come, we will sit down together (when he isnt bored to tears) and enjoy some family time.

I then realised, this was actually his 2nd 'Last Night'.  The last time I sat and watched the programme, I had just conceived.  I didnt know it then but Cub was already on his way.  This year has gone so quickly that I think I needed this Last Night to really appreciate how much our lives have changed.  Last year was just another year watching, this year we are building family traditions.  Scary huh?

I wonder what next years Last Night will mark?

2 comments:

Debra She Who Seeks said...

I trust that the Cub was waving a tiny Union Jack?

Local Yokel said...

I love the phrase "can't carry a tune in a bucket"!

I never watched the Proms, my family is more of an ITV family really, so they'd have been watching something awful while that was on the other side, without me knowing a thing about it, though if I had known I would've loved to watch them, cos I loved classical music too. I love the way that in recent times they've included more modern and popular culture stuff and moved away from some of the stuffiness that has been (sadly and unnecessarily) associated with classical music.

It is strange how having a kid utterly alters your life, and alters *you* in a way you can never explain to someone who hasn't done it. It's like a whole new life in a way, and it becomes harder as time goes by, to remember the time before the kids were there, and to relate to yourself and the way you were back then. Sometimes that's a good thing, sometimes not so good... but I think it's fairly universal to most parents :)

Family traditions are great. I can't think of any in our family, not enjoyable ones anyway, but I was honoured to be invited and allowed to participate in traditions of other families :)