Ready or Not, it’s Summer Break!

If you’re like me your kids are just about finished school for the Summer… and with that comes excitement, relief, and a bit of concern!

All kinds of questions and thoughts are buzzing around in my head, and perhaps yours too.  “Yay we don’t need to wake up at the crack of dawn, oh my gosh how are we going to survive 3 unstructured months, the pool is calling my name, what do I do about the “boredom blues” that will surely show up, I can’t wait to enjoy my morning coffee on the sunny deck (instead of gulping it down as I get my son prepared for school and to the bus), when will I get a moment to myself in the next 3 months, it’s time for fun with friends & family, and how in the world am I going to get my work done?!?!”  BREATHE!!!!

I think I always feel this way during this time of transition.  So, here is what I’ve found to be a huge help to my family (and snap me back into shape when my mind goes running away without me).  I believe this will be effective in your family as well.

It all starts by creating a basic summer routine. If you don’t have some sort of routine in place your day is going to get away from you.  If I let our day just go as it may it would look something like this… wake up late, sit around and catch up on Facebook, Pinterest, e-mails while my kiddo plays Legos, prepare breakfast (although it’s almost lunch time because we slept in so late), wonder if we should get washed up and dressed for the day because now it is past lunch time, decide how to spend the day (aka the next few hours), realize everyone else is already in the midst of plans so we catch the tail end of fun or say forget it and play in the back yard, listen to my son complain that he’s bored, realize I should probably make lunch because it’s actually almost dinner time, wonder what I’m going to serve for dinner since we just ate lunch, think about doing some laundry and cleaning but decide it’s too late in the day for that, and well… aaggh, you get the idea!  It’s not a pretty situation!

Ok, so what NEEDS to happen is that I have a loose routine in place that looks something like:

• wake up by 7:00 and get dressed & ready, (IF YOU NEED TO GET WORK DONE OR SIMPLY WANT QUIET TIME BEFORE THE KIDS GET UP, THEN YOU NEED TO SET YOUR ALARM!)
• work in the office for 2 hours (while my son sleeps in or plays), (SET ASIDE TIME FOR WORK!!!
• prepare & enjoy breakfast on the deck (look ahead to what’s on the dinner menu & prep if necessary),
• spend a little time together with my son getting the day’s chores/housework handled, (YES, YOUR KIDS SHOULD BE DOING CHORES & HELPING OUT AROUND THE HOUSE, YOU WILL INSTILL RESPONSIBILITY, AND SIMPLY GET MORE DONE IN LESS TIME!)
• pack a lunch if we’re heading out for the day (ie. to the pool with friends),
• or choose an activity from our Summer Fun list, (READ ALL ABOUT THIS FUN IDEA HERE)
• enjoy the afternoon together,
• prepare & have dinner at a normal time (5-6 pm in our house),
• go for a walk or bike ride and stop to chat with neighbors,
• sit around a backyard fire while we have dessert, (ENJOY AS MUCH FAMILY TIME AS YOU CAN!)
• get my son showered & ready for bed, story time/kisses/hugs/lights out,
• catch up with my hubby and perhaps a little Facebook, Pinterest, read a book, then go to sleep! (GET TO BED AT A REASONABLE HOUR SO YOU CAN GET UP ON TIME THE NEXT DAY!)

Doesn’t this scenario sound more enjoyable (and productive) than the first one?!?!

HAPPY SUMMER!!!