Are you preparing for summer with kids at home? In 26 days, my 2 oldest kids will be out of school. *Pause while I make myself a cocktail*
Last year was my first experience with all of my kids, home for the majority of the summer – not in daycare. Blogging has given me an opportunity to spend more time with my kids, and I am embracing every moment with these little people.
Last summer, we decided to put the house on the market – so yeah that is kind of INSANE when you have kids at home with you. We spent 3 months living in a car, well it felt like it. We ate crap fast food between showings, which you know give you an hours notice before a realtor and perspective home buyer arrives (HELLO INSANITY!).
This summer, we are moved into our new home and in just 4 weeks the kids will be out of school. No more waking up at 6:45 am to get out the door. No more after school activities. No more homework. I CANNOT WAIT!
Well, kind of. Then there is the whole, 4 kids with me 24 hours a day part that I forget about. So what do you do? You prepare for summer. At least you try to.
10 Tips for Summer with Kids
While I am no type-A parent, I am going to be ready when summer is here (though it may KILL ME). So what am I doing to prepare?
Here are 10 tips, hopefully they will help you with your kid summer preparations – and please let me know if you have any other ideas. Us moms must stick together if we know any secrets that work for us!
1. Create a Family Calendar
We finally purchased a dry erase wall calendar with the month on it.
While my husband and I keep each other in the know with Google Calendar, we want to stop the kids from asking about big events all the time. This gives them a month glance on what to expect.
2. Make Family Meetings a Priority
I wrote about agile family meetings a few weeks back. These are going to be key to keeping us on track and hopeful somewhat sane during the summer months. Yes kids, even though its summer – you will still have to do chores.
3. Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff
This really should be number one… This summer with the kids – I won’t be sweating the small stuff. I want this to be an enjoyable time for the entire family. While I will do everything in my power to not turn this house into a potential applicant for Hoarders – we will lay low on some of the parenting nitty gritty that I sometimes can fall victim of.
4. Think About Food
My daughter informed me that there are 80 days in her Summer this year. 80 people. I have 6 mouths to feed, take it my husband does go into work a few days a week – but let’s do the math on that. 80 days of Summer – 3 meals a day – 6 people. Crap where is my calculator. 1,440 MEALS. Holy mother of wow. That is insane. At least during the school year I can let them buy a few days a week.
I think having a SANDWICH SUMMER. would be fun. Get creative with sandwiches – which is something I rarely ever make. I told the kids to start brainstorming on sandwich ideas. My daughter’s first words – SMORES! Somehow in her mind, graham crackers are bread and chocolate and marshmallows are meat.
With the laid back summer – I envision a brinner night and a pizza night in our summer future.
5. Make Date Nights a Priority
We slack on date nights, mostly because to hire a babysitter for the night – meaning 4 hours – it’s at least $50. This summer, I don’t care how much it costs – which is a lie – but I am going to make going out a priority. Our 15 year anniversary is this summer, hoping we can do something special during that time.
6. Plan Your Vacation
I am rolling my eyes right now, as vacation with 4 kids is really just getting out of dodge for a few days. We have tentative plans to visit family and hopefully see some fun sights.
Our family loves road trips (see our road trip to Austin!). Some day we will do a family RV trip around the United States – until then, I will just enjoy the vacation weare in the midst of planning.
7. Schedule Kid Swaps
I thankfully live only 15 minutes from my brother and sister-in-law who have 2 kids similar in age to our 2 oldest. We plan to swap kids often, giving us a night off every now and then(well kind of, we still have 2 others – but it’s a break!).
8. Find Free Local Activities and Make a Summer Bucket List
Create a summer bucket list. We are a member of the Perot Museum of Nature and Science in Dallas which allows us FREE entry all year long!
We also get free entry to several other Children’s museums that we plan on visiting. Check your local libraries as they often have activities. Our neighborhood pool and the splash park will be regular stops for sure this summer.
9. Take a Week off From the Kids
Don’t get me wrong, I love my kids – but I am going to need a break. I’ve planned a week off with all the kids in camp or childcare for a week during the summer. I am hoping my husband can take a day off so we can do a date day.
10. Schedule Time to Work
As a work-at-home mom I am going to need to schedule time to work. I plan on having 90 minutes of quiet time in the afternoon and while we let the older kids stay up late, they will have to bother dad at night and leave mom alone! While working at home is amazing, I find if I can just prepare myself for things like summer with the kids, work will go much smoother.
There you have it… my tips on how I am preparing for the summer with kids at home. Your turn. Stay tuned, the kids want to start vlogging again – summer is the perfect time for this to happen.
- Check out Last Day of School Party Ideas
Talk Back: How do You Plan Your Summer with Kids at Home?
Samuel Joyce
Friday 17th of May 2013
Moving for a fresh start sounds like a good idea until reality sets in.
Suzan
Friday 17th of May 2013
Nice post. You have shared very useful tips for kids. Summer is the great season to do all the new things.