So, it's that time of the year when we sign our kids up for stuff ... pottery lessons, hockey, dance — you name it, there's a lesson and a team for almost everything these days.

Last night we went to register our girls for indoor soccer. Actually we could only register one of them because of their age difference (3 years) and the fact we only have one car. You see, the league holds games for different age groups on the same night and at the same time but at different community centres ... and with just one set of wheels we can't be in two places at once. (Call me a slacker mom but I'm not up to busing it on a Friday night with one of my kids and her soccer gear in tow.)

But I digress ... as usual.

What I really wanted to chat about is that I want to play soccer. I don't just want to be a soccer mom in the stereotypical sense of the term, but really play the game.

I started thinking about it last Saturday. Our family spent most of the day basking in the sunshine on a soccer pitch while Liv took part in her annual end-of-summer tournament. Soccer is just such a great game ... I started to get, well, a tad envious.

Why can't I join a casual league and run boundlessly across a field? I guess I could — even though I haven't played the game since I was, oh, about 15. I just need to find a women's league in my area that isn't serious ... and that will take me. Then I need to find — er, make — time to take myself to practices and games.

I've also been thinking about guitar lessons. That's another thing I haven't done since my teens and I really, really wish I'd kept it up. (Ah, regret will get me no where.)

My trouble is there are so many things that strike my interest, and yet I never seem to make them a priority — except for my book club. But I should.

Here's where you come in ... what kind of activities (not exercise, ladies), leagues and lessons are you pursuing?

How did you decide (a) what to focus on and (b) make time for it?

I need your inspiration, so write to me! Kathryn

There's one thing my kids, ages 7 and 10, just can grasp in the summer ... and that's why I have to work.

"Why? Why?" my 7 year-old asks repeatedly.

Sophie is a smart cookie (not that I am biased or anything) but it just doesn't make sense to her. I secretly wish she ran corporate Canada so her philosophy of  'summer's for staying home and having fun' would rule the workplace.

Couldn't everything  just be put on hold from June 30 to Aug 31 so we could all hit the beach?

I explain to Sophie the concept of household expenses, clothing etc. and the corresponding need to earn money to pay for said things. The feminist side of me is also quick to point out that this mum likes to work.

'Sweetie, I went to school and studied hard to work in a profession I love. And I want you to do the same."

Sophie pauses for a moment and then declares: 'I'm going to be a teacher when I grow up. They are the only adults who have fun in the summer.'

Summer is ripe with mummy guilt.  I talk to so many mum friends who worry if they have their kids in too many camps, in the right ones, feel horrible that they don't have more time to spend with them, and fret over having to work such long hours  before taking a much-deserved vacation with their families.

It's never easy being a working mum. But my take is that it's toughest in the summer when the pressure is on full-force to be relaxed and there for your kids ... at least if they are not teens, yet, and actually want you around!

The answer isn't for all us working mums to quit our jobs. There has to be a better way.

One solution that worked for me this summer was to swap childcare with a neighbour. This week my daughter, Liv, 10, is camping up north with Ally and her daughter, Olivia. (Sophie is with grandma).

Next week when I'm off on holidays, we'll take Ally's daughter away with us.  It's one week that both Ally and I don't have to deal with mummy guilt.

Do you experience mummy guilt in the summer? How do you juggle work and spending time with your kids?

If we all share ideas, we can spend less time stressing and more time having fun with our kids.

Until next time, Kathryn

This week, we welcomed a new member to our household. Nope, not a baby, or a fluffy kitten or an impossibly energetic puppy. Our new addition is ... (drum roll please) ... my niece who is living with us for the summer.

I know this doesn't sound like a big deal, but for me it is. Why? Because said niece is a whole new species to this mum blogger. She's a teen. And for the mum of 7 and 10 year olds, this is new territory indeed.

For the first time in my life I have someone who is asking to borrow my make-up, my blow dryer and my hot-rollers, and who spends more time in the bathroom than me. I know, it sounds so very cliche ... but it's all true. I have even found myself mumbling under my breathe, "When is she going to wake up? Half the day is already gone."

Then, when I caught a glimpse out the window of my 90 year-old neighbour picking weeds out of her lawn and dragging around a brown compast bag, I couldn't suppress the thought: "Hmm, they just don't make 'em like they used to, do they? Kids these days. They're so-o lazy."

Help! I am morphing into an old codger.

As I adjust to having a teen in my home, I remind myself that this is great training for the years that lie ahead when my girls emerge from their bedrooms after noon, squinting their eyes as they adjust to the daylight.

Do you have teens? If so, help a fellow mum out.

Write to me with your teen parenting tips and stories. You can even share your favourite books on parenting teens.

Until next time, Kathryn

P.S. I am waiting on the final details of an exciting contest that I hope to have up on by blog early next week, so tune in.

Thanks to everyone for replying to my post on Canadian music. The winners of Royal Wood's latest CD, Lost and Found, are: Denise Nielsen and Deann. (Please email me your mailing addresses and I will get the CDs out to you.)

Speaking of great Canuck tunes, my neighbours went to see a wonderful live show this week: The Canadian Songbook: A Tribute to Neil Young's Live at Massey Hall. A diverse group of Canadian musicians (Holly Cole, Stephen Page, the Cowboy Junkies, etc.) recreated Neil Young's 1971 concert at the same venue.

I tried to get tickets but it sold out quickly. That's why I was so pleased to learn that the tribute concert will air on CBC Radio 2 on June 29 and July 6 (two parts) at 7 p.m., and on CBC Radio One on July 3at 2 p.m. I am definately going to tune in.

I love CBC Radio. Confession time: when I went back to work from both of my mat leaves, I'm not sure who or what I missed more, my babes or listening to CBC Radio all day long.

If I had to take only a few things to a deserted island ... one of them would be a radio. Oh, and I would demand said island had the frequency to listen to CBC Radio One and Two.

What would you want with you on a deserted island?

Talk to you soon, Kd