Summer: A Time to be a Kid

What do you think of when you think of summer?

Family trips?

A break from school?

Trips to the pool?

Hopefully it is something fun, and what a blessing if those thoughts include activities you did with your family.

As moms, I think we do have a responsibility to allow our kids to see summer as a time for extra fun. There is something so great about anticipating summer every year, the joy of reaching it, dreaming it would last forever. It is simply one of those wonderful joys of childhood. And us mamas, well we need to protect that.

So how do we do that?

To be honest, I’m not exactly sure, but here is what I think might help as us moms try to give our little ones an environment to be kids in.

Change up the routine for summer. If your kids are in school, this will be easy!  But if your kids are still not at school age, or if you homeschool, this might be more of a challenge. I’m not saying you need to allow the days to be unplanned and chaotic. But have a looser schedule. Focus on simply having fun most days.

Schedule outside time for those nice days, but allow your kids to pick what activity to do outside.  This could be a great time to start an activity jar. Have your kids write out different activities they love to do outside and put them in a jar. Then when you need an idea for that outside time pick out a slip…

Be prepared for extra laundry and stained clothes. Just set your mind on it. Then it won’t be such a big deal… hopefully… For that matter, be prepared for more cleaning… dirty footprints on the floor, finger smudges on the walls… it’s going to happen so just be ready… (can you tell I tend to get worked up over the extra messes?)

Try to have one moment every day when your kids are simply loving life. A moment when they are just giggling like crazy, lost in the joy of the moment… Then maybe keep a summer journal and write down that moment every evening. It will be a great memento of the summer.

I’m sure there are a million more and different things we can do as parents to help our kids be kids during the summer, and the specifics will be different for every family. But even if we just  have the mindset that as the moms, we can set the tone for a fun summer each day that might be all it takes.

Do you have memories from summers as a child that will always mean summer is a magical time? What do you do in the summer to allow your kids to be kids? Are your kids more than ready to simply have fun this summer?