How to survive summer with your kids?
Summer is almost HERE!!!
We need practical steps to enjoy our kids this summer.
The first thing we need to do is decide what type of Mom you are. Are you the mom who’s scheduled the whole day in thirty-minute increments or spontaneously packing up a lunch for a trip to the zoo thirty minutes before it opens, or somewhere in between?
I’ve been all three at some point in my mommy journey.
For the Spontaneous Mom
For you, the plan is there is no plan until you decided on a whim hey let’s make a plan.
Tools that might help to be intentional in these precious summers is to make a bucket list. I know I’m not reinventing the wheel here, but brainstorming activities that lean toward your parenting goal (18 Summers) allow you to have an idea of where to go when you get that spontaneous itch.
Let your kids be involved in making the list too. You’d be surprised what they will come up with that makes for a precious memory.
Once you’ve made your list do the hard work of finding out ticket prices and opening times, so when the urge to go and do hits you aren’t caught up in the minutia of details that your joyful spontaneity is flushed away.
For the Super Planner
I tend to lean this way the most. I am a self-professed control freak and my plan makes me feel in control. But I have found that sometimes my ‘Perfect’ plan doesn’t leave much room for my kids to be themselves, which leads to none of us having much fun. We found a system for there to be structure and creativity, we call it the Brother Box.
The Brother Box is an upcycled Kleenex box with strips of paper inside with activity ideas on them. Each of us picks one from the box and then spends about fifteen minutes on each activity before moving on to the next. Sometimes I join in and sometimes this allows me to get a few things done around the house.
Activities range from Cloud Watching, Hide and Seek, Balloon Tennis, Face Paint, Sidewalk Chalk, and several papers with some of the kid’s favorite imaginary play.
The great thing about this system is that you can always of adding new ideas based on your kiddos' interests and promotes structure and independent play.
For the Mom who teeters between a plan and spontaneity
I find that when I can this mom provides a summer sweet spot.
If I allow the planner in me to have themes, whether that is every week like farm week or ocean week. Or to make a daily theme, like Make it Monday, Thinking Tuesday, Wet Wednesday, etc. When I have something to focus on, I at least have a launch pad to allow the spontaneous side and my planner to coexist within our summer.
Pop over to my Teachable Summer Pinterest Board for more ideas