Oh Summer Days

Am I the only weird mom that actually looks forward to summer break?

I am one of the lucky ones that gets to work as an educator so I have a lot of time off with my kids throughout the year, especially in the summer. Now I realize that there are many, many parents out there must work year-round, 8-5 jobs who probably dread trying to arrange childcare for their kids during long breaks off. These hard-working parents spend their time arranging and weighing summer school, childcare, and nannies with the cost, convenience and structure that all of these options offer. The struggle sounds stressful, and difficult.

Since I don't have that struggle, I get to figure out a whole different kind of arrangement.

I get to arrange what I get to do with my kids all day all summer long.

I don't dread this at all; I actually look forward to it. Now I do wonder if my planning will work, and am hopeful my daily schedule will be followed, but I don't mind planning out our summer together.

We are really going to have fun this year!

This summer I will have a 3, a 5 and a 7-year-old that I will be caring for, teaching and taking places. I am super excited because as my kids age, although I am pretty much constantly sad lately that my baby is not a baby anymore, my children are much more independent than they ever have been.

So what do I plan to do this summer?

1. Break up lots and lots of fights. Yes, I am going to go ahead and put this one right at the top of my schedule. I am certain this will be the item during my day that happens most often, right along side opening up juice boxes and picking up toys. My kids fight and argue a lot and there is something about the combination of having three children that always seems to leave one feeling left out.

2. Actually teach them. We will do homework every day this summer, and it will be in the morning, and it will come before iPads and playing with friends. Due to some awesome teachers the kids have had this year, a neighbor that is a kindergarten teacher, as well as my own research, I am confident I will be able to help my kids retain, and even gain, a little knowledge this summer. I am struggling the most with finding things for the 3-year-old, but I have some ideas.

3. Learn to swim, ride bikes and tie their own shoes. My older two children will become better swimmers this summer, and we will visit our neighborhood pool as much as possible. I'd like the 3-year-old to get used to being in the pool without his Puddle Jumper too. The older two will also learn to ride bikes with no training wheels. Tying their own shoes will also be a focal point this summer; it's ridiculous that I have a near-2nd grader that still can't tie his own shoes. My son has absolutely no interest in learning this skill- I may have the first highschooler some day that can't tie his own shoes.

4. Take them on field trips. We will go to the zoo, farms, parks, a beach, and the library this summer. I'd like to try other places as well.  I would love to go to two places each week, but will commit to at least one trip per week.

5. Spend time playing with them. I am really lucky that I have a full-time career that affords me the ability to stay home with my kids a lot of the time. I always feel so busy when I am home with my kids during the school year though, when I am trying to teach and grade work for my on ground and online classes. This summer I have really cut back my teaching load to one online class and one evening class so I will have time to actually play with my children as much as possible. Blocks, puzzles, Playdoh, games, baseball, slides, swings, parks... We are going to play.

Alright, now this is pretty ambitious, and I'm kind of interested to see what my end-of-summer post will look like. I am not going to pretend that keeping my kids on a schedule and having plans each week will be easy, but I am hopeful. 

What are you doing with your kids this summer? I'd love to know! Share your ideas and hopes below.