The Swing of Summer

Now that summer is in full swing, I’m guessing most mothers already have a game plan in place for the upcoming months. But before you fill your calendar to overflowing with every summer camp available, I have a few thoughts that I hope will get you excited about this rare time when you get your children all to yourself.  Summer doesn’t have to be a choice between your children driving you crazy at home all day or driving them around as much as you did during the school year. With a little bit of thought and preparation, summer can be a time of making both fun memories as well as meaningful growth–right at home.

One of the reasons I love summer so much is that there’s more elbow room to progress in areas that often get pushed aside during the school year due to the never ending stream of book reports, fundraisers, and orchestra concerts. I’ll give you four of my own examples, but I’m sure your family has their own list of priorities. The point is to think of summer as a time to propel your family forward in ways that are important to you.

First, summer is a great time to start or refresh your family’s work and allowance system. Unless you have an unusually busy summer schedule (and I hope you don’t), summer provides rare blocks of uninterrupted time to do family work projects together, or at least establish a better daily routine that has children cleaning up their own spaces as well as being responsible for one other area of the house (or however your family decides to allocate family work). If you’ve been waffling about what sort of family work and allowance system to implement, now is the time to decide so you can create solid habits before the school routine starts up again. (For great ideas on setting up a great work/money system, check out this great program.)

Second, summer is the perfect time to establish healthier eating and exercise habits as a family. Between all the farmer’s markets and roadside produce stands, everyone should be able to get the daily recommended servings of fruit and veggies. Personally, I’ve subscribed to a grocery service that brings a 5 lb. box of organic produce to my door every week, and my goal is to make sure we eat it all–and then some! The combination of lighter meals (preferable during the hot summer months) and the tendency to get outside and move more also makes it easier to make progress on your weight loss goals. Then there are the benefits of cooking together as a family during those luxuriously long, slow summer evenings. Use all of these opportunities to make changes you can realistically maintain before the return of the cold and busy school months.

Third, those family vacations most of us take in the summer provide wonderfully isolated blocks of time that can be used to create a family mission statement. I know this idea seems hokey and forced to many people (at least, it did to me), but you may be shocked and pleasantly surprised at the level of enthusiasm your children (of all ages) show when you ask for their input, not to mention the sense of family identity that comes from thinking up words or phrases that describe what you’re all about. I know some families who even have family flags, mottos, or cheers to go with their statements–it’s just one more way to solidify the values you want to instill in your children.

Last but not least, the best part of summer is enjoying and strengthening your relationships with your children by doing what kids do best: having fun! Click here for an article I wrote a few years back on creating a summer bucket list.

So here’s to making progress–even in the summer!

QUESTION: What do you want to accomplish this summer?

CHALLENGE: Sit down with your family and make some goals for the summer that everyone can get excited about.

Image  by dan/FreeDigitalPhotos.

 

About Allyson Reynolds

A Midwest girl, Allyson met a California boy in Japan, and after getting married and living in all three places together, they have spent the better part of the last decade in the Mountain West with their four children, ages 11-21. After many years of writing and speaking about motherhood for the Power of Moms organization, Allyson now produces The Sisterhood Podcast with long time Power of Moms friend, Tiffany Sowby. Along with creating episodes that focus on empowering and entertaining women, they hold monthly “Service & Sweets” events up and down the Wasatch front where they gather women to serve at a different service organization every month followed by a visit to a local treat shop. (For more information and to get involved, find them on
Instagram.

In a parallel universe, Allyson travels the world as a freelance writer and National Geographic photographer. In reality, she tries to squeeze in as many of her favorite things as possible (the great outdoors, photography, biking, cooking, living like a tourist) while trying to keep up with her busy family. Though woefully neglected, you can occasionally catch up with her on her blog, A Day in the Life and on the local daytime TV show, Studio 5