Deep Summer is when laziness finds respectability - Sam Keen
For some families, there is truth and joy in this romantic and timeless concept of summer. For others, summer laziness is miles from your reality.
Keeping kids engaged and active when they are out of their routine can be as challenging as it is important. After all, most parents haven’t had a summer vacation themselves since the days of rocking Bananarama in cabriolet convertibles. Resources everywhere give great suggestions for backyard garden projects, morning yoga and “fun” family closet cleaning. And though all of these are great ideas and likely to benefit everyone, it can also seem like one more outrageous addition to the circus act that summer feels like for busy parents.
Are your kids reading? It’s a great way to prep for the new school year and for some parents, a guarantee for push back and arguments. Incentivize reading...it could work. Summer chore lists are a great way to remind them that they like being in school! It also gives them a taste of the routine that they really do crave.
When we couldn’t travel as a family, my mom would task us with putting together virtual trips to fabulous places all over the world. We would present our findings over dinners and share sights and sounds from Tonga to Tibet. Of course, we were limited to the World Book Encyclopedia offerings and hand drawn photos. Not so anymore!
Or you may be the fully booked, dreaming of downtime summer warriors. This comes with it’s own set of issues. Are your kids exhausted? Are you?
The truth is, summer will end soon. The nights get colder and shorter every year and back to school hits like a ton of (sometimes very welcome) bricks. Until then, remind your little soldiers whenever they claim boredom, that we are here just waiting to cure that boredom with another year of learning and growing.
Share the time with as much joy as you can. Put your feet in the grass or sand next to your kids. Memorize the faces that are driving you crazy. Show them this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ePIZugahFc and laugh.
Tell them about your summers as a kid.
And trust, we are here and can’t wait to take them off your hands. But not until August 22nd!