Are you already dreading the summer? You love your kids, but summer break can be rough on everyone (kids included!).
Here are some tips for beating the summer blues:
1. Create a schedule. It’s way too easy to wind up stuck at home all day long. If you don’t have anywhere to go first thing in the morning, you’ll find you will linger over breakfast.
Linger over getting dressed.
Linger…Linger…Linger…and before you know it, it’s 5 o’clock in the afternoon!
Set a schedule and include some kind of activity that forces you to leave the house and get dressed every single day!
2. Whip out the ol’ list of contacts and schedule some playdates! I don’t care how old your kids are, they want to hang out with their friends!
Hopefully, you get along well enough with their parents that it will be a great social experience for you as well. For the older kids, swap hang out days. One day the kids are at their house and you get some much needed downtime, and one day they are at your house (this is your chance to become the “cool” house on the block. Whip out that famous chocolate chip cookie recipe!).
3. Find out where all the FREE and CHEAP weekday summer activities are in your town. Many have special loyalty programs (like punch cards) that you can take advantage of.
I love going to our local jumpy place on double punch day! I have 2 kids, so on double punch day I get 4 punches (and it only takes 6 to fill a card…score!).
- Also read: 18 Free Online Summer Camps (Or Inexpensive)!
4. Leave your kids alone (Disclaimer: I’m not saying you should abandon your kids…just make it known you aren’t their entertainment director 24/7) . I’m serious here. They don’t need you chauffeuring them all around town every day. They don’t need your constant stimulation.
It’s summer!
My mom used to kick me out of the house in the morning and allow me back in for meals during the summer. While I’m not quite that intense (and it’s hardly practical nowadays anyways), I do make sure my kids know that I don’t expect to entertain them every minute of every day. They have times they play by themselves and they have mandatory quiet/nap time. It helps keep us all sane 😉
5. Finally, look at your time together as an opportunity. An opportunity to teach, mold and create memories with these adorable children who won’t be little for long! Take them into the backyard for impromptu water balloon fights.
- Go on bike rides as a family.
- Let them stay up way too late and catch fireflies.
- Snuggle up on the couch and watch movies.
Take advantage of these long summer days and linger over these summer nights. Before you know it, they’ll be driving their own cars and packing up for college. Don’t wish this summer away!
(Even if you do have to lock yourself in the bathroom for 15 minutes a day just to get a moment of peace).
Heather is a wife and mom of 2 living in the amazing state of Texas. She’ll teach you how to coupon and how to save money on Family Friendly Frugality. She’ll teach you to sew and cook on her blog A Southern Mom. Now she wants to know who is going to teach her to slow down?
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