The usual summer involves us catching a plane for some exotic location (Hawaii, California and Oregon are the normal) the day after school gets out. We vacate Maryland for four to five weeks and then come home in time for the kids to participate in the last two weeks of summer camp. And then it is back to school and work for me and the kids!
This year Danny is on the swim team (more on that in another post). The season lasts from June 18th to July 23rd, and I knew that Danny would want to participate to the fullest. So travel gets switched to the last 3 weeks of summer and the children and I are faced with 6 weeks of summer vacation at home (the kids will be attending one two-week session of summer camp in that time).
Extra planning is required for me to be prepared to offer the kids summer entertainment, much needed downtime and a mother who isn't going bonkers! Because I am usually at work and the kids are at school, we are not used to spending a lot of time together during the days.
The day after school got out the kids and I did some work that would help guide us through the next six weeks: the lists and the snack tubs!
We made two lists: "Summer Plans" (a wishlist of summer fun, big and small ideas welcome!) and "What to do When Bored" list.
I notice that on weekends when the kids are home, they tend to graze and want me to prepare snacks and food for them ALL THE TIME. To avoid their constant "Can I have a .....?" we put these tubs together. Each tub contains 14 packaged treats, something they normally don't get in school lunches (it IS summer after all, and I want them to have some fun!). There are things like granola bars and fruit rolls, plus some special things like chips and candy. The snacks can be eaten in one day (neither have attempted that, thank goodness!) or over the course of the week. When they are gone, they will have to wait until a new batch on Sunday! The children ALWAYS have fresh fruit and carrot sticks available to them as well.
The first two weeks of summer have been great, and both of these things have given us some direction!
4 comments:
I love these ideas! Can I share this with all my mom friends?
(I got sick of "mom, what can I do now?" a few weeks ago and had Miriel write up a list of things she loves to do, so that idea is familiar to me)
thanks!
adina
Of course, Adina. Share away... I got these ideas from other moms too!
I like this, and may be stealing it, too! I feel like our summer has just started today, since the last two weeks have still been busy mornings getting JAM off to camp. Today we all lounged a bit longer in the morning, though not much is different for Red and Pudge. :) I think we'll be making our own lists tomorrow! Thanks Jen!
The lists have definitely kept me going as well as giving the kids some things to look forward to! The important part for me is that the "What to do when bored" list is made of INDEPENDENT activities that don't require my supervision.
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