The Greens of Summer


When my babies were little Mrs. Green told me, "You can't put sleep in the bank."  When I had toddlers Mrs. Green told me, "Put the oxygen mask on yourself first."  And a few years later, when summer shifted from splashing in shallow pools and long naps on hot afternoons to swim practice and baseball and two loads of laundry a day, Mrs. Green told me, "Lower the bar."

She didn't mean to parent less or lazily.  She just realized that it's better to focus on what must get finished, to be bothered less by the mess and to slow the heck down.  So, there are dishes in the sink and likely a wet swimsuit (or two) on the floor, but there is also a final green paint swatch on the wall of the dining room.  We all have our own priorities.

Books, clockwise from top, Walls, Florence de Dampierre; The Colonial Revival House, Richard Guy Wilson; A Flair for Living, Charlotte Moss; Interiors, Mary McDonald; Elements of Style, Michael Smith; Vogue Living: Houses, Gardens, People; Regency Redux, Emily Evans Eerdmans; Wallpaper, Carole Thibaut-Pomerantz.

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