Summer Summer!

Next week is the end of the school year. Normally, that wouldn’t really affect me because, like most people, I’ve always worked year round. But now that I’m in a school, I get the same days off as the kids. Which mean…summer vacation!! I get to spend all day with my kids for three whole months! We can play and go on walks and go to the pool. They have my undivided attention- and will whine. And drive me crazy. And fight with each other constantly. Hmmmm, maybe I should rethink this…

Anyway, I do think I need to have a plan. A schedule- so we’re not just spending the whole day in our pajamas watching Ninjago. I’ve been researching this a little and there are so many ideas! Pinterest is a black hole from which I’ve emerged several hours later. But my basic outline is this:

7-8am- Wake up. Make and eat breakfast. (Fingers crossed and prayers said that they sleep in till 7am)

8-11am- Play outside. This could mean going to the park, going for a bike ride (if Ezra ever decides he wants to start riding his bike and not just sit on it), playing at the water park/ clubhouse pool, or some combination thereof.

11-1pm- Get back home and clean up. Make and eat lunch. Watch the newest episodes of Blaze and Paw Patrol. (You may wonder why I keep saying make AND eat meals. My kids are very enthusiastic about telling me what they’d like to eat- it’s the actual eating, that’s the challenge. A couple bites and they’re done. I tried telling them they wouldn’t grow big and strong if they didn’t eat. The reply? “But mommy, I thought you wanted me to stay little forever!” Check and mate.)

1-3pm- NAPTIME!!!!! Wonderful, blessed words.

3-5pm- Craft time. This means I have to attempt another visit to Michael’s. The scene of The Dark Incident. I know better than to get a whole huge bag of something to re-use. I tried that with beads when we were going to make necklaces. I’m still finding beads in the couch, in the fridge, in the pantry- wherever Ezra can reach. Lego building is included in this time so I foresee myself building lots of ships and buildings for the boys to totally destroy in five minutes. But they love it and I love them, so I suffer through.

5-8pm- Make and eat dinner. Baths. Clean up. Probably more television, not gonna lie. I’m going to really focus this summer on getting the boys to be more responsible and take on some additional chores. They like to use the hand-vac and broom already, but actually cleaning up toys is like pulling teeth. The little ones get paid quarters when they help and that’s a pretty good incentive, even if Ezra has no idea what to do with the money. He collects it in his backpack and then runs around the house jingling madly.

I’m sure I’ll improve on this schedule as the summer wears on, but if I can just keep to a loose routine, I think we’ll all benefit. I didn’t really include Micah in this because he’s already got his summer lined up. He plans to bounce from one relative to the next, gracing us with his presence for a week or so at a time. If you have any better suggestions for summer schedules, please let me know!

With Love,

Susanne