How to Calm Down With Kids This Summer
We often mourn the loss of the summer of the 80s and 90s. We miss the way kids leave home in the morning on their bikes with their friends, returning only once or twice for a meal before stopping work at dusk.
It’s unlikely that your kids will have the same wild and free summer that you remember from childhood, but that’s okay. Small structure is good . Even in summer, children need regular sleep, sleep, rules, expectations and habits. They provide a sense of security, create a quieter atmosphere in the home and help them adapt faster to school in the fall.
But there is still a way for them to recreate the classic Summer That Lasts Forever – and this is at the expense of slowing down. The school year is a marathon, but every day is like a sprint. You start your day by trying to get everyone out the door on time with packed lunches, library books, and some random item to showcase and tell. In the evenings, a rush of home, football, dinner, baths and bedtime.
You are probably using the weekend to catch up or get ahead, and before you notice, the first day of the school year has turned into the last day of the school year. Hands Free Mama ‘s Rachel Macy Stafford reminds us that summer is our chance to slow down. This is how she tells Mother that she is doing it:
Fewer hours spent in the kitchen and more regular patio picnic dinners (including popsicles)
Less baking excellence and more helping hands
Less formal notes and more melodies in our heart
Less Netflix Watching and More Storm Watching
Less “rush” and more “take your time”
Less time for looks and more hats on unwashed hair
Be late
Now you have a chance to spend time walking out the door. No bell will ring forcing you to enroll your child in the office rather than dropping him at the school door. Not a single bus leaves until you reach a stop. Have your child tell you a long story while putting on shoes at the same time, even if that means it will take them a full five minutes to put on the sandals.
Take your time wherever you go. Better yet, stay home and play sprayer.
Let the activity stop
As spring sports and extracurricular activities come to a close, resist the temptation to add a few new lessons or activities to your schedule. Even if you are going to work all year round, bring it back.
I know it’s so weird not to keep track of which field you’re going to tonight. But perhaps a lazy outdoor evening is the best part of summer. This is the time when you play badminton in your backyard and teach them how to chase and (carefully) catch fireflies.
Plan memories – picnics in the park, dates with friends at the pool – not regular activities.
Reconstruct a family dinner
If family meals became a bit of a rush (or just didn’t happen) during the school year because this kid had to get into baseball practice and this kid had to get into Girl Scouts, that’s okay. Most of my son’s dinner plates this school year were filled with hot dogs and pizza. It is what it is.
But now you can slow down and try that new recipe that you bookmarked back in March. Maybe even let them help , even if it takes 579 times longer than you do to chop carrots.
You can sit down together and remember what it was like talking about the ups and downs of your day because you have nowhere else to be.