No city does summer better than Chicago. After the brutal winters that keep everyone indoors and hunkered down, the warm, humid summers are a time to head outdoors, walking along the lakeshore and attending one (or many) of the city's famous (and free) festivals.
My daughter is now a teenager. I have hung on to every single second of her sweet elementary school personality that I could and now I have to let that go and embrace her journey to adolescence. OK maybe not embrace, how about reluctantly accept?
I have heard horror stories of the drama to come and had a few of my own as a teen so I am more than a little anxious about the years ahead. I see glimpses of the dark side already - the emphasis on friends, the eye rolling, the "you just don't understand" retort. And I also see how important it is that we get to spend time together - just us. That goes for each of my kids.
