Preparation is always key to being organized, however, there is something about the summer vacation from school that seems to break all the rules. So, I thought I would share a few general words of wisdom to help get you started!
Start with what you know:
This has quickly become my new mantra for many clients. When something seems overwhelming often times its easier to start with what you know.
For example:
- If you know that you & your husband are taking a 10 day trip to Mexico in June (eh-hum), then begin by putting the dates on the calendar. This simple step will already combat against over scheduling or double booking. Next, take a look at the kids schedule while you're away. If they have commitments, will be staying with relatives or you need pet sitting then you'll know you need to figure out who will help. As you can see, this has already started the snowball effect & figuring out the next step will always present itself for you.
Make a Plan:
Some feel the whole point of summer vacation from school is to get a break from such a rigid schedule. I agree, sort of. Sitting down with the kids when school gets out & talking about what they want to get from their summer break not only gets the conversation rolling but allows them to make goals & lets us parents sneak in some crucial lessons on responsibility while still letting summer be lazy.
For example, every summer both of my kids:
- make a request of somewhere they'd like to go or see
- a project they'd like to complete
- something they want to save up for
Then I let them know how we can work their goals into the things I'd like to see them working on. It looks something like this:
My older son is:
- Researching potential colleges
- Working as my personal assistant
- Saving up for an iPod & a laptop.
My younger son is:
- Updating our family website
- Reading 30 minutes or a chapter every morning before practice.
- He was saving for an iPod, but we just ordered that so now he is looking for his next big thing to save for.
In all fairness, I also participate in this "plan".
I am:
- Learning how to sudoku.
- Reading books for my book club
- Saving for an elliptical machine
We've all decided that we want to
- Float the river as much as possible
- Visit the water slide park every other week
- Catch up on all the Netflix movies in our queue.
Once we've laid out what we want from all this free time, we figure out the best way to "schedule it in". Having just a few things on the list ensures that there will still be plenty of time for the fun stuff like sleep overs & bike rides!
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