Welcome to the 30 Days of Summer – Go-To Guide for Moms!
Day Fourteen
Moms need to have fun {this one I have to remind myself of daily} and have a break too. Being such a task orientated person I can find it very hard to pull back and enjoy the moment. If my plate has any appearance of being full, my anxiety shifts into overdrive, which will feed into depression, thankfully I can recognize it and have a plan to deal with it now! It requires a lot to cut expectations back, especially during the summer so I can enjoy family time.
Its important to maintain a little balance in my life. I kinda hate that word, “Balance.” I rather like the word Rhythm – that seems to be more realistic, I am not sure balance is ever achieved, but you can find a rhythm that works for your individual situation. As I cope with the arrival of summer in our neck of the woods and trying to give myself grace during our grieving process, I thought my helpful tips could hopefully help you enjoy summer too.
Mini Vacations
Rather than taking one long vacation in the summer, I like smaller and more affordable breaks. This works especially well for us since my husband has a different work schedule – not a typical 9-5, Monday through Friday job. We are able to escape for a few days at a time and take advantage of during the week specials. For us, this summer means heading out to our beach cottage for 5 days, planning an inexpensive hotel overnight to enjoy some family pool time (I love finding great Living Social and Groupon deals for these!) my husband taking a backpacking trip with one of our boys for a few days and other things we’ve yet to come up with.
By taking smaller vacations, I’ll have a few things to look forward to rather than just one event. It seems to be a bit easier on our budget and it is less stressful to pack up and go away. Sometimes those big long vacations are so stressful to prepare for and return from it seems hardly worth it!
Plan Meals
This is an all year tip – but in the summer it seems it can easily get overlooked if you are not intentional. In addition, the kids are home more and wanting to eat more, so taking the time to have healthy snacks readily available can save you from hearing, “I’m hungry” over and over again. You know my favorite meal planning help is Emeals, the best $5 per month I’ve ever spent! I’ve found some yummy recipes in Crock On.
Have a snack basket prepared in your frig or pantry with items that are easy to grab items that don’t necessarily require you to give permission to eat. I saw this great PIN on Pinterest with ideas for a snack basket. This is by far the best idea to keep peace in your home!
Backyard essentials
A kiddie pool and sandbox can be a great investment for the summer – especially for younger kids. My son spends hours playing in his sandbox, it is literally a life saver for me! The one I had gotten on Craigslist two years ago finally gave way so we found another $20 one a few weeks ago and we are good to go for another year or two. I can sit out by him and read a book or play alongside and he is loving the sensory play!
Now I have older kids too, so you would think a toddler pool would just not be cool for them – um….not so! Last summer everyone has a blast helping little J find fun ways to use his little pool and everyone even got wet and played around with it. I was surprised. Even if it only lasts part of the summer, a $15 pool is so worth the investment for the hours of enjoyment.
Don’t Over Schedule
I rarely have a problem with this anymore, but I can tell you I learned my lesson long ago and what it does to me and my kids when we try to push too much. When my hubby and I got married – remember we were blending a family, he didn’t quite see things my way. He was a single dad of one and they were on the go all the time, doing all kinds of fun stuff. The reality hit when we were now a family of 5, with 3 kids and trying to keep up his pace. No can do! Burn out, frustration, and overwhelm quickly took over. We made adjustments and now realize when too many things start creeping up during the same time. We put a halt to it and readjust. Especially now with a 3 year old added in, we’ve had to again, reevaluate what is realistic for our family.
It can be easy to go overboard during the summer. It is fun to plan lots of family activities, but I take this into consideration with my Summer Survival Calendar, planning usually only one activity for each day. This allows for some new adventures, but also for downtime and other fun to be added in however your family sees fit. I can remember just playing outside during the summer in our neighborhood. No real planned activities, just using our imagination – there is a lot to be said for allowing kids to be kids!
Be Pinterest Picky
That bloody Pinterest! Don’t get me wrong – I love Pinterest and all the ways to share ideas, keep ideas tucked away and come up with fun activities – but it can overwhelm you pretty easily if you are not careful. Being the “un-crafty” mom that I am I can often feel like a real loser. I used to be crafty – I even stenciled walls in my home, created dried floral wreaths and did scrapbooking. Unfortunately that season for me is not right now!
So when looking on Pinterest, remember that all those ideas are not from one person. It can be easy to be consumed with the thought that you have to do 10 projects a week or cook that recipe and have it look just like the professional picture. Remember, not so! Use it to collect ideas but also allow for reality to be present. Fit in a few things here and there, but realize you are human and probably won’t do 1/4 of all the things you’ve got pinned to your boards!
Remember the 4 F’s of Parenting
I shared the 4 F’s of Parenting for summer last year – so if you missed them, you’ll want to check that post out. Be Firm, Fair, Fun and Flexible. There is a way to incorporate them into each day during the summer, what does that look like for you?
Grace
Here is where I am. Trying to have grace with myself during this season of grief, disruption and schedules colliding. With the passing of my father-in-law a few days ago, we’ve entered into a weird place during our summer plans. The thing is, the plans we made will not be, we need to be flexible and go with the flow. Having grace with others in the family as well as for myself. This is hard. I can extend grace to others, but I mostly refuse to allow it to extend it to myself. Remember this mama – not everyday is perfect, your dinner will sometimes burn, the kids will have a meltdown – heck YOU will have a meltdown – but it is His Grace that covers us all and take peace in that.
What is your summer tip for sanity?
