School is now out (was that a yay or a whimper I heard?!) so many of us will be looking to fill the days with a combination of just plain playing, relaxing and of course, activities to keep the kids happy.
While it would be lovely and wonderful to go out and spend a fortune buying our children’s happiness at play places or restaurants, it’s just not possible. And really, I wouldn’t want to schedule something for the kids to do every day.
My days in the summer are really not much different than they have been any time of year. This was the first year my son was in preschool and that was three mornings a week. I’ve come to learn how to pass the time – because, I have no choice! Here are some of my tips for getting through the day:
- Let the morning be relaxing. If you rush out the door, you’ll forget something or all of you will be half asleep or worse, cranky. I need coffee, the kids need to play by themselves for a bit in the morning. They are at their happiest anyway. Naturally, in the summer, the sooner you get outside the better to beat the heat, but my kids are up at 6 so we can still do this.
- Don’t fill every second of every day. It will stress you all out. Everyone needs to learn the value of down time, our kids included. They are usually bussed to school, have homework, sports after school and so on. Let them get bored a little (I said just a little!)
- Let them be kids. Sure, having them around will create more mess (which always means more work for us) and while I think they should help out around the house (to varying degrees, especially depending on age) let them be little bums once and a while. Wouldn’t you like to ignore that laundry and jump in the sprinkler too?
- Arrange play dates. If the kids are older, this may mean swapping the kids for an afternoon with another mom. In my case, since the kids are younger, it means mommy coffee time while chasing the kids around. It saves my sanity some weeks!
- Have fun together. On weekends you will likely do stuff as a family, but when it’s just you and them, treat them to a lunch out. Or picnic at the park. Or set up a tent in the yard (or basement on a rainy day). Make up silly games using spatulas and rubber balls. It’s those sorts of things that they will remember most and that create special moments for all of you. Your routine will be thrown off, yes, but sometimes that’s ok.
I certainly don’t want to make this sound easy. There are days when my husband gets called 80 times becaues I want to ‘quit’ (ha! whatever that means). Having a little bit of a plan helps me and when all else fails, I pack them up and we go to the park, to the mall or wherever just to get out and change our scenery.
In another post I’ll highlight some of my favourite activities to do – most of them on the cheap!
What do you do to pass the time at home? Are you kids of an age that they can occupy themselves? If they are young like mine, how do you balance the time?
My kids are older (almost 9 and 5). We usually spend a lot of time outside and I will admit that there is a fair amount of video games involved in our day (during the summer, school year they are limited). I am finding it a bit harder with the heat this week. I bought a few work books from Scholars Choice and we do a few pages of school work a day. I know that might sound mean of me, but the kids actually enjoy it. Especially my 5 year old since he gets a sticker for ever page he does. He loves stickers!
I need to take some of your advice. With me being used to working full time, and now with having all 3 boys at home for the summer, I find myself getting a bit stressed. It isn’t easy to keep everyone happy, especially with a teething 6 month old in the mix. But I need to remind myself to enjoy it and let them be kids! Just like you said 🙂
Great post. So practical. The kids need to de-stress from a year of school and I think it’s very important not to over-schedule their summer. Your tip #3 is the best. Just let them BE kids.
Chantal, we certainly have plenty of video games and tv – mostly in the am and at that 3:30/4 pm pre-supper/daddy home melt down time!! On lazy days they watch many movies and play many games. We all like to veg sometimes.
Thanks Paula. I worry sometimes when people schedule their kids so much or feel they have to always be ‘doing’ and then they don’t learn how to enjoy doing nothing.
I worry about over scheduling sometimes too. Every morning my 3yo wakes up and says “where are we going today Mommy?” I am making an effort to stay at home at least 2-3 times a week, because I want my daughter to understand that we can’t always be driving out to the museum, playgroup etc. But I need to learn how to make home a more interesting and fun place. I think taking an inventory of the toys we have if a good start – I need to replace them with some that are more appropriate for preschoolers. Looking forward to all your tips!
Misty, rotating toys helps – sometimes in expensive ‘new’ ones are easy to add in the mix. My son after school would ask ‘what are we doing today?’ every day for a while 😉