Tag Archives: summer

Summer 2015

Posted on by
Reply
These crafts look great because no child made them.

These crafts look great because no child made them.

Yesterday marks the first official day of summer and that means making plans to survive the hotter months. It was also Father’s Day – (a huge happy Father’s Day to my dear dad who reads my blog, love ya tons Daddy!).

As much as I’d love to say I’ve got it all figured it out for this year, I don’t. Because of year-round school my kiddos only get a three-week break, which isn’t much compared to traditional, but sometimes still seems like forever.

I want to make those three weeks count and not have it turn into another lost opportunity.

The more ambitious part of me wants to plan crafts and activities for each day and be super active. I’ll teach them new skills like crochet and beading. We’ll work out in the garden and grow fun food. We’ll visit museums and go swimming. It sounds fun, and exhausting.

The more realistic part of me knows how this has gone in the past. I’ll bring out a project that I’ve spent time preparing. Before we even start, one kid will start whining that he doesn’t want to do it. While I try to convince him how much fun it will be the other two get into the materials and start opening up and pouring out and dumping things. I try my best not to lose it because now I have to help them find all the bits they each need from the wreckage and they are frustrated that it doesn’t look like how it’s pictured on the box. While all of this is happening, the third child will have to be taken potty. The second I leave the other two will wander off back to their video games. When I get back I have to choose if I want to repeat everything again or just scrap the whole idea.

Here’s to another summer. I will plan a few projects for them as well as for me. I hope that everyone has matured a bit since last summer and maybe things will go better.

Until then, wish me luck!

A Case of Too Much Fun

Posted on by
Reply

When school got out the week before last I didn’t imagine that we would end up doing something big nearly everyday. Somehow between family, friends, and the 4th of July holiday, we’ve been to the water park twice, the dinosaur museum, camped in the backyard, had a sleepover, gone to lots of playgrounds, watched a parade and a firework show, and attended a luau.

It’s been exhausting.

I can’t deny that the kids have had a great time. We don’t normally do as many fun outings in the course of a week.  All that fun comes at a cost. As much as they deny it, I can tell that they are getting pretty tired as well.  Late nights and long days will wear anyone down , and kids have shorter fuses. Yesterday my youngest had a meltdown at church. He was mad at everything and we couldn’t figure out what he wanted.  I ended up having to take him from his class. After he had a snack, he curled up in my arms and fell right asleep. He has never done this before. In fact, the only way I’ve managed to get him to nap for the past 5 months is taking him on a car ride.

As parents we’ve had to deal with the other dark side of too much fun.  If my youngest gets too tired during the day or takes too long of nap then he wakes up in the middle of the night and it takes anywhere between 10 minutes to over an hour to get him back to sleep. We’re already getting less sleep because of everything going on, losing that much more is the proverbial kick to the head.

As for me, I’ve tried to set up that holy grail of a summer routine that allows for both fun and work. Late nights paired with trying to wake before the kiddos has caused all sorts of issues with my sleep rhythm and now it feels like I’m waking up half zombie.

It’s the beginning of another week. My shoulder aches from hauling around my youngest and my head is already throbbing.  Thank heavens at least for today we don’t have anything big planned!

IMG_0955

Enter the Summer

Posted on by
6

bubble summerThis week marks the end of structured days of kids in school and the beginning of summer vacation.  For kids, this is a magical time of freedom, discovery, and lots of play.  For parents, this time comes with mixed emotions. There is no longer the pressure of the morning school rush and all its battles, but there are also whole long days of nothing on the calendar.

For me, I’m looking forward to the change.  There are so many fun things I want to do with my kids that were too complicated to manage during school.  Now is the time for swimming lessons, day camps, play dates, sleepovers, summer crafts, and lots of outside play.

At the same time I’m terrified.  I need structure.  The thought of having whole days with nothing on the calendar is very daunting.  My first instinct is to go a little crazy and create a mommy school where my kids can grow their minds and hone their skills.  There would be field trips where we would have in-depth discussions about science and art.  I would become super mom plus, and drive myself crazy planning and creating activities.

Then I realize, I also have a toddler who will make most of these plans really difficult.  Having one-on-one time with older children to focus on their needs is super important.  Doing it while wrestling a curious toddler is an exercise in patience.  Planning outings and activities is harder when nap schedules need to be considered.

This summer can’t all be about the kids either.  I have goals as well.  I would love to make some real headway on the current draft of my book.  To do so requires hours of work at the computer, undisturbed when possible.  There will be less of those with the kids home, yet I feel there should be more now that I don’t have to drive the taxi to school and back.  This might just be the summer that the kids learn that mommy needs time to work on her projects as well.

I wish I could say I have a brilliant plan about how this is all going to work.  With only a few days left I better start making one or the summer is going to slip away before we even get started!

To all those parents out there, good luck! May this summer vacation be the best one yet.