Summer Strategy

I remember, back when I was a big, awful, inexperienced jerk, how much pleasure I took in rolling my eyes (HARD, too – I rolled those puppies HARD) at parents who constantly complained about having their kids home from school for spring break, or Christmas break, or for the summer. Honestly, I would think, what could be so hard about this? I have my kid home with me EVERY DAY OF THE YEAR and I'm doing okay. Why aren't people treasuring the delightful gift of TIME they've been delightfully given with their delightful offspring?

And then HA HA HA HA my kid got older and then I had two of them and while I had a noble stretch of almost TWO SOLID YEARS of having both of them home with me, by the time I got used to having Asher at preschool, I also lost the ability to handle having them home together for an entire week.

I am sorry, people I rolled my eyes at. I don't know if it's just that Asher is at an age where it is harder to keep entertained or if it's the fact that Lucy is now old enough to take stuff away from him and then taunt him with it and then smack him in the face when he takes it back, but finding ways to make the days fly by is getting harder and harder. I'm not exactly dreading summer break, but I am wondering if my Target runs/errands are going to have to take place after they go to bed at night. At this point in time, I do all my weekly errands while Asher is at school – that way I only have one child to deal with, and BONUS: it's the child that still fits nicely into the part of the cart that has a SEAT BELT. When I have both of them, one is in the cart seat and the other is in the big part of the cart and then there is fighting and arguing and also WHERE AM I GOING TO PUT THE PAPER TOWELS because there are BODIES taking up ALL AVAILABLE CART REAL ESTATE.

So I've come up with the beginnings of a strategy. I'm going to tell you how I'm going to survive summer, and you're going to tell me your secrets too, and then our kids are going to be home from school and we're all going to live happily ever after for three whole entire months, OKAY?

My first strategy is STRUCTURE. We are going to try to make and then stick to a routine of sorts. The predictability helps me feel like the whole week isn't stretching out before me with NOTHING TO DO. I feel most helpless when I have large stretches of time with nothing planned – I get more overwhelmed with big chunks of nothing than I do with 15 tasks to complete. (Personal preference.) It will be a loose routine, but for example, I'd like to have one morning early in the week set aside for grocery shopping/Target runs for basic necessities.

Under the STRUCTURE heading, another big goal for our summer is to do one big special outing each week. We're probably going to spend a lot of time at pools and playgrounds – I'd like to set aside one day per week to do something a little less ordinary. Maybe one week we'll hit the aquarium. Maybe another week we'll drive up to the train museum or take a special nature hike or go to the huge playground a few towns over. Maybe we'll go downtown to the Smithsonian. I want to commit to doing the things I always say I WISH we had time to do. I am not a total idiot – I know that there will be weeks we won't be able to pull it off, but my goal is to do as much as we can with the time we have. If I can be even more annoying here for a moment, I would also like to try to incorporate some kind of special activity to correspond with our special outing. I am thinking here of renting a movie about the ocean before we go to the aquarium, or reading a book about birds before we take a nature hike. Simple stuff, but stuff that (I hope) encourages creativity and expands their wee minds. (I know this will be hard to stay on top of, so I've started a list with outings I'd like to do and will be adding activities as I think of them, and am aiming to try to plan them out a week or so in advance.)

We're going to go hard core with a potty/chore chart, complete with prizes. I want Lucy TOTALLY trained, and I want Asher to start pulling his weight around here, without whining about it. Also totally going to adopt the even/odd days for whose turn it is to do things that are completely unimportant once you hit the age of eight, like turn on the light switch in the bathroom when it is bath time or time to choose the red cart or blue cart at the grocery store.

I am preparing backpacks and a summer storage bin for the trunk of the car. Each kid will have a backpack, and in that backpack will be items like binoculars, magnifying glasses, butterfly nets, etc., and each child will have their own camera. We have two relatively indestructible kid cameras courtesy of generous grandparents, and my Big Bright Idea is to have the backpacks/cameras on hand all the time so the kids can take pictures of the stuff we do all summer long, and then we can upload the photos and make them into a book at Shutterfly.com when September rolls around. Very boring storage bin will contain a blanket for spontaneous picnics as well as bug spray, sunscreen, lip balm, extra clothes/diapers/towels for messy situations, a couple of non-perishable snacks, and garbage bags (these are great for wet clothes storage or to put over car seats in case of wet children).

And here's perhaps the biggest one: I am going to seriously consider hiring some childcare. In the last few weeks my workload has tripled, and I am so happy to be able to earn a little money and do something I love doing, but it has been really hard to find the time to do it all AND take care of the kids AND keep the house clean AND do the laundry AND talk to my husband and so I am toying with the idea of working something out with the grandparents, as well as asking around to hire a mother's helper a couple of mornings a week. I am thinking tween-age girl, who could come to the house and play with the kids for two or three hours twice a week, while I am in the house working. The kids would love it and I could get some things done so that I can really pay attention to them and spend quality time with them instead of trying to do everything at once. I really don't like it when I'm trying to send an email while simultaneously scrambling eggs and switching the laundry to the dryer and guiding someone to the toilet and answering the phone. I would really love a few hours a week to concentrate on one thing at a time, without it also requiring the aid of the Bubble Guppies.

So how about you? I'd love to hear how you guys are planning to survive the summer. Are you planning weekly neighborhood cookouts with kids? Are you sending kids to camps or vacation Bible school? I really really want to know.

Comments

[Heather R]

I LOVE your idea to do one outing a week with a related activity!! I think I will be stealing that idea for at least a few of the weeks. I signed my older one up for a week at "camp" which is really 4 half days at her current pre-school. they stay for 4 hours instead of 2.5 and they get to bring bathing suits and go out in a sprinkler and do fun summer crafts and such.

Another week we will be on vacation at the Cape-we go every year and it's great for the kids-very shallow, warm water with no waves. I might send the older one to a week of "dance camp" at her dance school in August which is 2 hours a day for 5 days and it only costs $60!

That takes care of 3 weeks....I will probably plan a lot of play dates, trips to the park(we also have 2 FREE sprinkler parks within a 10 minute drive, which is AWESOME!), and playing in the yard.

I totally know what you mean, though...I was a HUGE eye roller too and now I totally get it!

[Melani]

My kids are 14 and 12 now so summer's a bit different now. They'll both be gone to camp 3 weeks of the summer (regular sleep-away camp, band camp for one and church camp for the other). They only really get 8 weeks of summer so that doesn't leave us much time.. We have a pool so that keeps them pretty occupied for awhile. I've always loved summer except for the 1st week which is almost always miserable b/c my kids have to get used to being together all the time so there's a LOT of bickering (has happened every summer since preschool) and the last week or so when it's so hot everyone is miserable. I try to save a really good activity for that last week--kind of a last hurrah before school starts up but also to keep us occupied instead of killing each other. ;)

[Jennie]

This post makes me kind of misty that I don't get to be home every day with Kyle this summer, so your plans sound totally awesome and wonderful and I hope you'll write about them as they come and go!

[Carla Hinkle]

I am trying this summer to strike a balance of enough Things To Do and too many...last summer I booked my older into a different camp almost every week which was (a) a little hectic and (b) ouch, pricey. I'm also TRYING to coordinate babysitter time, camps & my work time so I don't spend all summer driving around and end up working at night, like I did last year.

I would love to spend some time at the pool....since the baby will be 18 months, though, I know that would be stressful rather than restful. So I'm trying to adjust my expectations & thinking beach, instead.

I love your idea of having a plan --on the weeks the older two don't have camp I going to try and create some kind of loose schedule, where we designate what crafts, etc they can do the night before. One of the things that stresses me most during vacations is when all five of us are home for extended periods and the kids pull out every toy and art supply and trash our small house. I'm hoping I can manage this a bit so I don't get cranky and start yelling at them.

It seems like every summer I need to come up with a different strategy as the kids grow...hopefully by summer of 2012 we'll be in a bigger house & that will help too.

[H]

My kids are way too old (college age) for me to participate in this discussion but I wanted to tell you that I really admire your organization ideas. I'm totally a bin person! I love bins with labels. LOVE.

[Sally]

My boys are 7 and 4, so we're where you will be in a few years. The difficulties of summer remain the same even though their older.

We're going to have a fun jar. I'll write all the possible ready-to-do activities on squares of paper (connect the dots, legos, watercolors, puzzles, bake cookies, play do, run through the sprinklers, etc.) Then, whenever we have a free hour I'll let them choose something from the jar. I haven't decided yet if they will be able to look through their options (oldest can read) or just pick blindly. I'm hoping the format will help them to be positive about the activities that they enjoy but always say "no" to when I throw them out as verbal suggestions. I'm trying to avoid that "I'm bored, there's nothing to Doooooo" insanity.

Also, I have a blanket rule for days at home that has been working really well. If they say they're bored they have to help me do house work. It's way more efficient for me to do such things by myself, but if I threaten to make them help they will magically find something else to do with each other.

Also, we always do a country-of-the-week focus over the summer. We do all sorts of things that tie in with that country over the week. We read folktales from the library about that country, look at maps/globe, do some craft or art or cooking activity that ties in to the country, possibly watch a kid-friendly travel doc from Netflix, and (most importantly!) eat one lunch out at a restaurant that serves that country's food. Sushi! Crepes! Spaghetti! Outback Steakhouse! It was a lot of fun last summer, and we're going to do it again this summer.

[Mama Bub]

You pretty much already have all of my ideas. I have my husband home all summer, which sounds awesome and it it, but as far as any sort of structure goes? Forget about it.

[A'Dell]

Good Lord, I have no idea how I'm going to get through the summer. having Claire home the past two weeks has been TOUGH. And I knew it was going to be hard but GAH it is so hard to keep both of us entertained all damn day.

I have tried to follow her school schedule as much as possible and having activities outlined and certain times/days for them is pretty key. Makes me feel less lost during the day and more like we are actually doing things. (Sometimes, EDUCATIONAL things!)

(And then there's the whole part about doing this with a newborn and...now I am getting hives.)

If you can stick even loosely to this plan I think that's a GREAT plan. I would love a summer like the one you have outlined.

[kim]

I went to the zoo this week (spring break) and they had a deal where you buy a day at the zoo and a day at an aquarium. I purchased the ticket thinking the aquarium would be a fun day trip in the summer.

We have a week planned with high school friends and family. This will probably turn into a two week trip to visit friends who live in the Sacramento area.

We will probably make a trip to the beach. My child is a beach girl, so she would be heart broken if we do not make it to the beach.

We will probably be doing a lot of home crafts, because I will not find out if I have a job until the middle of July (which I think I will, but it is still scary).

I love your organization. I am more of a fly by the seat of my pants kind of girl, and wish I was a little more organized.

I love the country-of-the-week idea. I also love your idea of a get-away a week, with research.

There will also be a birthday party, actually 2 my daughter and her friend are 5 days apart.

[Bethany]

I think your plan sounds like a really good goal. Just make sure the plan serves you and you don't become a slave to the plan. BTW my 11 year old is available to be a mother's helper . . . :)

Seriously, this is the first time since said 11-year-old started school back in Kindergarten that I am not dreading summer vacation. I have four kids but we have lots of trips planned and some structure planned for the weeks we are home, and we have a pool now, and they are just older (11,9,7,5). Bring it on, summer vacation!

[HereWeGoAJen]

When I was teaching summer camp, we had theme weeks. Like farm week, animal week, space week, etc. Since you already want to do an outing with a matching activity, why not make it a whole week? We just did really simple activities that matched, like coloring pages and little figures in the sandbox, and theme snacks. I'd say you already have four or five weeks planned already with what you listed up there.

[Megan]

I think you are so lucky to be able to get a "mother's helper"! I'm freelancing too, and it's at that awkward stage where I could really use the help, but I don't make enough to justify hiring someone. I say that if you have the workload and the money coming in, then you should go for it!

[megan]

The summer schedule of super! Amazing! Fun! There is a copy of an old one in my FB pics. I will find it for you if you want. It is full of things we COULD do. We don't get to half of it but at least I'm rarely at a loss for options.

[Carla Hinkle]

Ooh, country of the week! I love that!

[Jana]

I'm thinking that we will do day care a few days a week, and do some traveling, but honestly I'm not sure... I have to get through May first.

[Robin]

This is an awesome list. I am totally copying the instant picnic bin in the car...genius!
As far as schedule, I am copping out and my kiddo is going to the summer session at his school. We had such a long, painful adjustment period when he started school that I just couldn't stomach getting him out of the routine and potentially going thru it again. Ordinarily, my son's preschool days and my work days are the same (duh) but when my husband (a teacher) is home for the summer, I am going to switch one of the days which means once a week, my husband and I get a little date (on a weekday morning, granted) but still...yay!

[megan]

I need to print this out and stick it on my bulletin board. I'm already home w/ Lila 24/7, and am wondering what we're going to do all summer. I love your "big trip" idea and to keep things in the car! I'm copying you. :-)

[nonsoccermom]

For us, summer isn't really all that different than any other time of year - my husband and I both work full-time, so my son (2nd grade) will go to the all-day version of his after-school program. We do have at least one week set aside for him to visit my parents (a two-hour drive away), but beyond that, same counselors, same friends, just more swimming and field trips.

My daughter's routine won't change at all, save for the weekly inclusion of Water Day at daycare.

In all honesty, summer makes me very glad that I DO work full-time in a profession other than teaching. I know my own schoolteacher mother had a hell of a time figuring out what to do with me and my sister during the seemingly endless summer!

[Kim]

I am doing the theme a week idea. I found some great early education books (made for preschool teachers) at the library, they have EVERYTHING in them. Now, if I could just get Supernanny to come get my daughter to listen so we can have fun and learn together!! :)

[Jen]

OMG. Last week the daycare was closed on Monday (Easter) and I WAS DYING. I am not used to having both kids with me for 2 days in a row, alone. Let's just say it was... an experience. LOL I'm such a wimp.

Also: I want to come spend the summer with you, because everything you mentioned sounds like SO! MUCH! FUN! :) :)

[Violet]

When I need a little time to get things done at home, I like to send them out back with sidewalk chalk. They love it, and can't do any damage by themselves. If they like to swim, there is a good indoor pool at the Cub Run Rec center. It is for small kids - not deep, walk-in end, slide, fountains. Mine really like it, it's a good option for scorching or rainy days.

[Aunt Carol]

First, let me say that you are amazing. So organized. I think I just winged it. I do remember how much better it was as they got older. I remember a summer, prior to having two more, when J and S were around 8 and 9 ish and I did not want summer to end. I did not want them to go back to school. I think that was the summer of '76. Then we had two more.

[Shannon]

I do not have kids but used to work in a daycare. Structure was very important in keeping the chaos contained but switching up the activity helped keep them from getting bored. For example, during outside/large movement play instead of just going outside every time we switched it up each day with a walk one day, a trip to the playground the next, and the gym the following day. This prevented the children from getting bored with the same old schedule each day.

[steph]

Hi there! I love your blog but have never commented before. I used to spend my summers being a mothers helper and had a lot of fun earning money while doing something I loved, playing with kids, so I think that is a fantastic idea! Just thought I would throw my two cents in here in case anyone cared, haha. While being a mothers helper is a fantastic job, it can be pretty stressful bc unlike babysitting where the parents are gone and the kids understand the sitter is in charge, with a mothers helper the kids sometimes dont "get" that the sitter is in charge and still try to run to mom when the helper says "no." Its also very stressful bc you feel like you have to keep the kids happy ALL THE TIME bc mom is listening! So in the beginning it can be an adjustment period for the helper to know that you support her when she says no to them, and if the kids cry about it, you understand that she isn't doing a bad job she is just helping them to learn who is in charge. Sorry for my tangent just thought I would throw that out there :)

[Lisa]

You are so organized. And optimistic. As I was reading this I was overwhelmed with a sense of gratitude that we live five minutes from Local Theme Park and have season passes to said park, which includes their waterpark of awesomeness. We fully intend to spend every waking moment there wearing each other out. Not terribly educational, but it passes the time like you wouldn't believe.