I wrote this post last year for The Risky Kids. Newer readers or readers unfamiliar with The Risky Kids may have missed it. During the season when I long for Fummer, it feels like a timely and helpful post to share with you here on Just Like The Number. Long live the summer spirit!
One of the hardest things about going back to school is watching the last glorious days of summer unfold while you’re stuck inside. And while I won’t deny that we were all ready to get back to a schedule, none of us were quite ready to give up on summer. It got me thinking – what is it about summer that makes the season so special, and how can we keep that summer spirit alive as our days get both busier and shorter?
Eat Outside
Picnics, deck dinners and cul-de-sac cookouts are frequent occurrences during the summer. Back to school doesn’t have to mean back inside! In fact, I find my kids need even more outdoor time in September and October, to make up for long days indoors at school. Have your afternoon snack outside on the patio, plan a picnic dinner, or build a bonfire and cook outdoors.
Keep Exploring
We’re great about planning road trips and vacations in the summer, but you can still travel and explore when school’s in session. Plan a day trip for the weekend, or become tourists in your hometown. Check out that new trail you missed over the summer, look for a new geocache nearby, or visit that playground that was too hot to consider last July.
Just Add Water
It’s Murphy’s Summer Law: once the pools close after Labor Day, you will find yourself with the hottest, stickiest weather that will leave you longing for the pool. There are lots of fun water toys on clearance in the stores now, so stock up and enjoy them at home before you pack them up for the fall. Break out the sprinkler or the water balloons. I love to stock up on water guns (these are great) so that all the kids on the street can have a big water gun fight.
Game On!
This is also a great time to get outdoor games at great prices. Stock up on outdoor games and toys the kids loved during the summer, and add something new to the mix (we just got these OgoDisks and love them).
Protect the Empty Calendar
One of the beautiful things about summer is the feeling that you have entire days with no real obligations. No sports practices or math club. No homework or tuba lessons. While it’s a given that your calendar will fill up and your afternoons and evenings will be busier, you can still control it to an extent. It’s okay to say no, or to limit the number of after-school activities the kids participate in. Everything that comes home in the folders looks so fun and exciting at first, but when the reality of having something to do or somewhere to be 5 nights a week sets in, all the frivolity of summer flies out the window. We limit the kids to one extracurricular per season, and it works for us.
Another thing we’re trying this year to make our evenings less full is to do homework as soon as the kids get home from school. I refused to do this for years, being of the belief that the kids needed to chill before they attempted homework. Instead, I found that they had a hard time getting back into the homework mindset, and often homework stretched into the evening and too close to bedtime for my liking. Now, we have a snack while we get started on the day’s work. It seems to go faster and we all love the feeling of being completely done with our school obligations, leaving the evenings free for play. And if the day is just too perfect and the call of the outdoors too great? I’m okay with saying no to homework, too.
How do you keep the carefree spirit of summer alive throughout the school year in your home?