I am not the kind of mom that gets really excited for summer. I admit it. Call me horrible, selfish, or whatever you want, but I like the routine of school and the fact I can keep my house clean for more than 5 minutes during the week. That being said, I am determined to have a somewhat organized routine for summer so we don't waste it watching TV all day in our PJs. We WILL have days like that, I guarantee, but not as many. I need structure for my children for my sanity and they enjoy things more too.
So for the past few weeks I have been thinking about what I can do to make this possible. Here are some things that are on my list of must dos.
- Reading - I have a (now) 2nd grader and a preschooler. One is developing his reading and one wants to learn, so this is top of the list
- Arts and Crafts - my boys love to craft just like their mom, so this is also a must. I do have to admit that I'm a little crazy (ocd maybe) about my art supplies and making a mess with them, so this is a big deal for me to do with them... They love it and I love it, so I'm learning to be less uptight about it.
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This activity is from an art book my mom bought a LOOOONG time ago. This was a a big deal for me. This is chalk pastel. MESSY. I love my pastels, but I let it go and let them have fun with it. I had fun too! Some broke, but that's life. Then we cleaned up. I was very proud of myself!
This was mine. I should have taken a picture of the example. I miss painting and drawing!
This is Oil Pastel. My son decided to cut his out and disappear with it before I took pictures, so this was mine. Simple, quick and my boy had fun, which made the mess and stress worth it! (I had fun too!)
We have already done one fun art project I found on Pinterest
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| My preschooler's creation (I helped with the G) |
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| My 7 year old's creation. He did paint an L in there. Can you spot it? |
- Chores - sounds super fun right? Since I have a 4 year old that hates cleaning and a 7 year old that is finally getting it, I figure summer would be a good time to start some chore routines. They do them now, but not regularly. I have a chart that I printed from cleanmama.net **BEWARE she has some amazing cleaning and organizing printables! I printed tons of them. If you are at my apartment you will notice them laminated all over the house!
- Outside Time - we live in an apartment and will for a long time. It's not easy for me to be motivated to take the boys outside. I have to go with them, so between my baby girl sleeping or eating, me cooking dinner, or any other random thing that comes up, my boys are gyped with outside time - not to mention the fact that in the summer it reaches 115+ degrees outside. So I am determined to go out with them in the morning before the sun hits the playground to let them run around. And I want to try to get to the pool (which is right behind the playground, which is right behind our apartment) more often. That will have to be with someone though because I have 3 children that don't know how to swim yet...
- Learn to Swim - at least my oldest, so I have one less child to stress about, at least stress less about.
-Writing - My oldest is super smart but really busy and doesn't stay on task of its not interesting to him, so working with him during the summer, I think, is important. I am hoping that he won't struggle in some of the areas he did this year. To my surprise he is having so much fun writing, he is writing a story! It's a few pages so far and he gets really excited about doing it! (win!)
-Trying New Recipes - I have hundreds of recipes posted on pinterest and allrecipes.com so i have decided I want to involve my kids in the process of trying new things because they are picky eaters. Maybe if they decide on the food we make they will at least try it??
- Fun Time! - I'm not a 'work work work' type mom. I like to let my boys have fun and mess around - they are boys after all. So fun time will be often and usually spontaneous, except for video games or computer games. I want them to earn that time with some of the above mentioned items.
I am all for a lazy summer. Because I'm a homebody and it's ridiculously hot outside, but it also causes a stressed out mom, a messy house and grumpy kids, so my main goal is to balance the lazy with the fun and productive. :) wish me luck!
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