Best Summer Ever

I KNOW what you're doing, because I do it too - you're THINKING of all the great places to go and things to do with the kids over the summer. But, it's more likely that summer will fly by, you won't remember half the things you promised the kids, and you won't get to the other half. Guilty Mom. Again. As if we needed another reason to feel freakin' guilty. Well, honey, this summer I aim to change my wicked ways, and I'm inviting you to join me. I was recently inspired by another mommy blogger, Heather, who creates a fun to-do list of her family's summer activities. That's right, we create a to-do list for everything else. It makes perfect sense to hold ourselves accountable, by actually writing down the activites we want our kids to experience this summer. My daughter and I have now created our list, and I'll share it with you soon. Check out Heather's post below, and let her schedule inspire some fun ideas of your own.

Joining us on the Playground, GUEST BLOGGER, Heather, from www.justheather.com. Thanks for the guest post, Heather!

We are in our second week of summer vacation. Ten more weeks at home stretch ahead of us. We have no vacation plans (due to our lack of vacation fund), but the girls have declared their Best Day Ever at least 5 times so far. Sure, they fight and whine in between the best days of their lives, but I think I've finally landed on a formula for a successful summer at home. Armed with my summer fun kit, a schedule of activities and a bevy of opportunities, I attempt to entertain them in hopes of keeping the bickering at bay. My goal each year is to make our at-home summers enjoyable for the girls, but I often wish I could provide them with some of the vacations and experiences they hear about from their friends each year when school begins again. Alaskan cruises, Colorado skiing and trips to Disney World are not a part of our lifestyle. I have to get a little more creative about creating childhood memories for my girls.

Inspired by the Someday I Want project and my own 40x40 list, I enlisted the girls' help in creating a summer fun list. The list includes 50 things we would like to do before school begins. We have all contributed something to the list and we've already crossed off several items. I even allowed them to include all their vacation ideas, though I knew it was out of the budget, because I thought it would provide a good lesson for them. Just because we can't do everything we want doesn't mean we can't have fun along the way. The hard part is knowing that I wouldn't be compelled to do some of the items the girls have chosen, even with their simplicity, if they weren't written on a list. The good news is that I wrote the list. I have an odd compulsion to cross things off once they appear on a to-do list. That's the catalyst for the entire Someday project, actually.

Once you put it out there as a to-do item, the barriers to getting it done start to disappear. Before the summer fun list, I might have let the girls have a lemonade stand, but I probably wouldn't have gone out of my way to provide all the extras for their entrepreneurial dreams. Without the list, I would have never setup home pedicures in celebration of National Go Barefoot Day. I might have said no to Blendy Pens in an effort to stave off the mess. I would certainly not have dropped a near fortune (earned at a pain-in-the-rear yard sale) on a parking lot carnival.

But I couldn't be happier that I did.

 

So, what's going on YOUR summer list, mama?  Fill us in and help to inspire us too. Especially if it's cheap fun - ha!!

 

Comments

[meredith]

Great, fun site!
Just found you on Twitter:)
I make a giant "Sinclair Summer Camp poster that goes on our sliding glass door in the kitchen. We dig crossing off the adventures and activities we accomplish on our big ol' list.

And at the end of the summer...we go back and remember all the fun stuff we did.
here's to a crazy, fun summer break with little people!

[Nina]

Wonderful idea, Meredith! Thanks for sharing! Sounds like there will be a "Stewart Summer Camp" poster being made this weekend. ;-)