The summer months can be daunting. As a mom, I always feel behind. Just sitting here writing this, I can think of five things I should have finished by now that are haunting me. Nothing earth-shattering, of course, but still…
In general, most moms have to stay one season ahead of the date on today’s calendar. Want your daughter in a fall soccer league? You’ll have to get her signed up by June. Do your kids need their biannual trip to the dentist in April? Better get that scheduled in February.
Using a calendar becomes such an important life skill when you have kids.
When it comes to schools and education, it’s often even worse. Years ago, we decided to send our first child to church preschool a few days a week, and I got up early and stood in a cold line in January to enroll her for the coming fall.
But here’s the truth: It is OK if you’re not constantly living in the future. Sometimes, I have to move my calendar, to-do list and unanswered emails to the side and just be with my kids in the moment. My two girls are thrilled when I do this, and I love those times with them reading together, playing Uno, or, lately, just chatting (listening to them chatter!).
The challenge for me is to turn off the perpetual to-do list in my head. It can be downright crippling, and rob me of the joy of spending unhurried time with my children.
As we enter into summer, I’d love to encourage you to join me in living in the present. To help me with this, every year, we as a family make a Summer List for the summer months. It lists everything we want to enjoy or learn together over the summer. We list movies we want to watch on our family movie nights, things we want to learn together, places we want to go (I always have to reel these ideas into some reality!), and people we want to make sure we see.
Here are a few different blogs and templates with ideas for summer lists. Feel free to use what works for you and leave the rest.
- Summer list templates from our Summer & School Break Fun Pinterest board
- Summer list for teens, different budgets and screentime
- Summer list for families with young children
- Summer list for single parents
A few times during the summer, I take the list down from our bulletin board and make sure we’ve crossed off anything we’ve completed. We have never completed everything on the list; however, we’ve had a lot of fun trying, and it helps us to be more intentional in how we spend our time together.
If your struggle isn’t thinking of things to do together, but instead, you’re struggling to instill responsibility into your summer months, we can help with that, too.
I challenge you to make your own family Summer List. You might be surprised by what a fun summer you’ll have!
Learning to spend quality time together isn’t just a skill for summertime, either. If your school year feels too fast and you’re interested in an educational model that allows for more margin in your days and weeks, Learnwell’s hybrid school or homeschool partnership options may help.
Our hybrid school offers kindergarten through high school students a chance for a high-quality education with excellent, certified teachers two days a week. On their at-home days, they work with a parent or a tutor to continue learning.
Find out more at an upcoming parent preview night, Discover Learnwell, or join us for a tour.
Our partnerships with homeschooling families extend from kindergarten through middle school. We offer the support many homeschooling families say they relish as their children grow and change. It’s called the Learnwell Navigator Program.