what I’ve learned so far this summer…
I love summer! I love having my kids home. It’s awesome. But there is a transition time for me and for them. There’s lots of bossing that goes on between…them! People think they need to be the parent. There’s also merciless teasing. We all have an awkward wierdness that happens as we try to figure out how to live together 24/7, plan who has the car and when, find activities to do so that boredom doesn’t lead to henpecking each other, and carving out time for me to work but still have plenty of time to play (because I love to play and I don’t want to miss out on all of the fun).
Here’s a short list of what I’ve learned this summer:
*A little planning makes everyone happy. Each Sunday, in our family planning session, we put on the calendar all the stuff we have going on. From there we decide when is the best time for me to work and when I will be available to play. I thought that having a scheduled work time everyday was the way to go, but each day is different than the next. Some days I work in the morning and go swimming in the afternoon. Other days we go play in the morning and I work through the afternoon. Some days I work the entire day, others days we play the entire day. I love the flexibility that a bit of planning has given us!
*A straight away is always a great opportunity for a race. Running in the morning gets us all off to a great start. Every other day we all head to the track together. Some people run, some walk, others do sprints, there’s a wild mix of just being crazy, and there’s always a RACE (or ten). Either way, it gets all of our endorphins off to a happy start to be outside in the fresh air and given the chance to run amok.
*Daily DEAR time is delightful. We have DEAR time almost every day. It’s been amazing. That bit of quiet time put our bickering, teasing, and bossing to the wayside. The chance to have a little time to get centered for the day has made a huge difference. I’m going to miss it when school starts. I’m already trying to figure out a way to keep it alive when the school bell rings.
*I can actually get up at 6am…in the summer. One of my favorite things, in the past, about summer has been that I get to sleep in, everyday. This summer I started getting up at 6am-ish so that I could get a jump start on my work before the kids ramble out of bed with their summer tousled hair.
*Gratitude prayers really help. When you start to think that you’re doing a really bad job at this mom thing or that your business feels like it’s going to crash and burn or that your cars will never be returned to you a gratitude prayer can save you from doing a spiral into a black hole.
*Morning adventures are still one of my favorite parts of the summer.
*An evening swim with bats dive bombing the pool (yes, you read that right) is an awesome adventure.
*When raspberries aren’t in season. Even if it’s been a really rainy summer there will only be 67 raspberries to pick off 6 long rows of bushes on July 12th.
*What kids with no tv or internet will do: create a 5’x3′ American flag out of cardstock and butcher paper, create a homegrown flower stand, sock slide on the kitchen floor, have a water party (a lot like a tea party), learn to play the guitar by figuring out the Iron Man theme song, make big messes, read books, longboard, make a cooking show video, create spoon and shrinky dink gifts for their friends, sort laundry, clean the bathroom, make chocolate chip cookies, leave a wake of pioneer dress up clothes from the living room all of the way up the stairs, write stories, clean the pool by themselves then set it up and swim in it (all without parental help), go on little mini road trips with Emmett, mow people’s lawns (for free), work on eagle project paperwork, set up camp outside, leave lemonade making supplies strewn across the countertops, chalk trace each other on the driveway, realize that one of their sisters really needs a friend, and so much more.
*Ballroom dance instruction can be held in my studio on a random Thursday evening.
*Ice cream stands on the side of the road should be stopped at as often as possible.
We’ve still got a little more than three weeks left of summer! Woohoo! I’m hoping we’ll get to pack in more fun, out and about, as well as more lazy summer days.
What have you learned this summer?
Make sure to sign up for all of the super fun stuff I send from the Familyness Fort!
Davina Fear is a Familyness Adventurer. She believes her backyard is where it’s at and…she can’t skip a rock. Like…at all. It just plunks in the water. Every time.
She blogs at davinafear.com and believes in the non-cheesy smile. She spends her days teaching moms and photographers how to create amazing family photo stories through The Familyness Photo Workshop.
Leave a reply