Art time on the kitchen table
Ask anyone with kids in school, and they will have a lot to say about summer vacation. Summertime is such a relief from the pressures of getting up early, packing lunches and doing homework. Most parents and kids alike are happy to take a breather from all that. On the other hand, there seems to be a lot of real or made-up pressure to have a “fun” summer. Having the kids home for 2 1/2 months can be stressful if the goal is to have a summer worthy of talking about. I have found that turning away from the pressures of what a summer “should” be and just focusing on what is right for our family has been the answer.
Simplicity and white space is our goal. I have learned the hard way that over-scheduling ourselves and rushing around makes time go by too fast. After the school year pace, I practically want to dig my heels in during summer and dare it to go fast. When I think back on my childhood, I remember feeling like summer lasted forever. A big part of that I believe is due to having a lot unstructured time, and even (heaven forbid), time to be bored.
A few things we really enjoy from a largely unscheduled summer are slow mornings where no one rushes to do anything. Mornings are also when the boys spend about 45 minutes of academic time. Just a little math and reading to keep the cobwebs from forming 🙂 This time allows me to notice things about my kids that I may not have picked up on during busier times. Struggles with certain concepts, etc. I can then take some time to reflect on different approaches.
Slow mornings
Reading time
Before I make it sound like we are living in totally unstructured summertime bliss, we do have a few tricks up our sleeve for not driving each other crazy. Because let’s get real…all that time together can be breeding ground for conflicts. And mess. So instead of nothing planned, we run more along the lines of an unstructured structure. Before they can watch any TV, they have to make their beds, eat breakfast and have completed their academic time. We usually have one outing or planned activity per day. That might be something like going bowling, meeting up with friends, going to the bookstore, or visiting grandparents.
To help brainstorm ideas for our daily activities, we brought back to life our Summer “To Do” List. The Summer “To Do” List is up on the chalkboard wall in our garage where we see it constantly. It is a good reminder of all the wonderful things about our summer – past and still to come. Before I create the list, I ask each family member to tell me 2 or 3 things they are looking forward to, and then make sure to include them. Some are specific outings and some are general. I also like to include very simple things on there, like “board games” “puzzles”, and “card games.” Including those activities on our summer wall seems to elevate the activity.
Our Summer To Do List
While leaving a lot of white space on the calendar has been good for our family, we do have some planned activities sprinkled throughout the summer. We scheduled 3 weeklong day camps. For their ages and temperaments, this seems to be their sweet spot. We also planned “cousin time” for this summer. My sister and her family recently moved to Florida, so we were able to do a swap, having our boys visit them for a weekend, and then hosting my nephew for a weekend.
As for travel, beyond our trip to California, there is not much scheduled. Maybe a few day trips or spontaneous weekend getaways. The more travel we have on the books, the faster the weeks seem to fly.
One thing that was a huge highlight of our summer last year was playing games at the park by our house. Every other week or so, the dads in the neighborhood host an outdoor game for the neighborhood kids. Like most good things, it’s a very simple thing that makes a big difference. It’s the stuff memories are made of for sure. They have brought the tradition back this year, and have even stepped up their game as far as making the games a little wetter and wilder. So far, the kids have enjoyed a water balloon war and slip n’ slide kickball.
Slip ‘n Slide Kickball
For myself, I am carving out time each day to create in some way. That could be writing, photography, graphic design or styling. I usually take some time early in the morning, and then again in the late afternoon. I think it’s good for my kids to see me have interests and passions outside of parenting.
We have one month to go until the start of school. I am hoping we can continue to keep our pace slow and our aspirations simple.
How do you prefer your summers to feel? Have you found an approach that suits your family?
