Our Summer Vacation
Today is the first day at school, the end of our summer vacation. Mixed feelings with all of us. You probably know how that feels. The kids didn’t want to eat, because they were too nervous. Understandable… but I wasn’t too happy about it. Please don’t go to school on an empty stomach. But how to change that irregular Summer Vacation Schedule in a regular School Schedule again?
I was totally forgetting appointments like my chiropractor or Little Munchkin’s gymnastics during the summer.
And there was also waaayyy too much screen time. Other years I organized summer camps at my Craft Cafe. The kids were entertained, had fun with their friends and we’re off the screens…. at least half of the days. In the afternoon we rested or went swimming every other day.
But this year, both my husband and I were working. Now what?
As for a lot of parents, our finances are tight. We didn’t want to spend a lot of money on summer camps. There were some nice ones in our town, but only for one week, or not interesting enough… according to my two eldest. And…now I think about it, I probably would’ve been driving around town to pick them up and drop them off at the different camps, because of the different age groups
Our 4 “Beat the Summer” Challenges
We came up with these solutions:
And it might not work for everyone, but it worked pretty well for us.
1.
Chores
Chores are always a dreadful thing to ask my kids for help. Even by telling them that there are 5 people in this house and 5 people make a mess. Not only “moi”! I made a list with chores. It looks like this. There are some chores that need to be done every day and some of them once a week. You can cross out those chores. When the chore is done, they put their first letter in the box next to it or use the provided color. The kids have to communicate with each other who is doing what. If the chore was not done, they had to do it in the afternoon or the next day.
I came every day for lunch and see how they were doing. I was only 3 minutes a way and we had our phones to connect.
2.
Summer Challenges for Kids
We came up with our own “home summer camp”.
I know what you’re thinking. “Oh, no! I don’t have time for that!”
Don’t worry! I did some work for you:
Here you can get your E-book with 15 super fun Summer Challenges.
My kids are 12, 10 and 4 1/2 years old and they did a great job with these challenges. They even integrated the youngest and she had a blast. She felt, she was a big girl now.
Some preparation is needed, like getting the materials and a little bit of set up and explanation. But that’s about it!
3.
Less structured activities
If I had a morning or afternoon of, I helped them with the challenges of needed, went to the library or swimming pool. At least I was sure they had enough library books at home to read. They made their own reading nooks or tents and lounged there.
4.
Screen time
Screen time. That is always a tricky one, because I think, at the moment for our family, is one of the biggest challenges of Parenting in the 21st century (Parent21). Because it has an impact on the whole family. I have to remind myself and my husband not to be on our phones or behind the computer when the kids are around.
We made a deal during the summer to have an hour of screen time in the morning and one hour in the afternoon or evening. Of course that didn’t work in the beginning. The timer was not set or they went overtime, which we could check on our devices. So, they learned quickly when I took the wireless router away.
Challenging times, I have to say. Summer vacation can be tons of fun, but I’ve noticed, you need to be flexible as a parent, because for the kids, vacation time is very irregular. My son for example needs to know what’s going to happen that day. I would love to hear what you are doing with your kids in the summer time and if you have great ideas … and don’t forget to buy your E-Book copy and have fun with these Summer Challenges and STEAM activities.
Hello everyone,
Welcome to my Crafty Dutch Girl blog! Grab a cup of “koffie” and browse through fun blog posts about our Dutch family expat life in the USA, Dutch history, Dutch recipes, Dutch things to do in the USA and all kinds of crafts and activities. Don’t forget to connect with me for new ideas! “Groetjes en tot ziens”.