What to do with Summer?
What kind of summer parent are you? Do you look forward with excitement to lazy days and the lack of restrictions? Are you a full-time working parent whose schedule doesn’t change but who has to scramble to figure out care for school-age kids? Are you the parent who faces summer with a little bit of dread because you don’t know what to do with the time?
I confess, I lean towards the latter, myself. Don’t get me wrong, the first days of summer are delightful. If you work from home or flexibly or are a stay-at-home parent, you may let everyone stay in their pajamas. You may eat breakfast at 9:30am. You may go to the park or the zoo or somewhere you haven’t been in ages. You may just lounge about and be lazy.
But then, around day three or four, the dreaded “boredom” sets in. Kids start asking for more screen time. They complain it’s too hot to play outside. Every suggestion you make for how they might spend their time is shot down. There’s a restless energy in the air and you’re realizing you haven’t stayed on top of any of the normal household responsibilities because you were enjoying summer.
There are a hundred resources out there for how to organize your summer. But one of the best gifts a friend (and incredible life coach) recently gave me, was the suggestion to EXPERIMENT. Don’t try to nail down the whole summer (other than the events that are on the schedule). Instead, try something for a few days or a week and then evaluate. Is this working?
Our first experiment is going to be a rotating activity schedule. Am I married to it? No. But I think it will help us have some predictability. On Tuesdays and Thursdays mornings I’m committing to work part time on my own writing and on my day job. But the other days we may try a rotations along the following lines.
Monday: play with Legos at the Lego Store (not an official Lego Store, but this is what we call it)
Wednesday: Science Museum
Friday: Swimming
These things won’t fill up the whole day, but they will get us out of the house and active and will fill up the morning. Afternoons are reserved for reading/quiet time, free play, and then maybe a simple late afternoon activity (playing with neighbors, backyard water play, etc.).
But, keep in mind, this is an experiment. I know myself. My tendency is to set up an elaborate system for making our household run like clockwork, failing miserably after a week or so, and then giving up. This is not a healthy pattern. So this time, we’re going to try it for a week, or even just a few days, reevaluate, and then try again or try something different.
Summer can be so fun — full of bonding opportunities, adventures, a break from routine, etc. But it can also be overwhelming. Take it one day at a time. Try an experiment or two, and then let me know how it goes. We’re in this together!