I'm back today with another thought on enjoying summer.
Today I'm talking about time.
Our kids come to us with a certain amount of time to spend with us.
Have you read this article? 18 summers.
It's good, go read it.
A few years ago, the same person, The Nester wrote another post about it.
It really made an impact on me.
It made me sit down and think about what I wanted our summers to look like, since we
have a limited about of time together.
I only have 3 summers left with this kid. Oh my heart.
I have 4 summers left with my girl!
I have a few more with my little guy, 8 summers, but they are not unlimited.
When put into the perspective of how few summers we have with our children,
it has changed what I want those summers to look like.
So this summer I am going to:
Begin with the end in mind.
That is really what this summer series is all about.
I want to really think what I want the rest of the summers I have with my children to look like.
That way I can plan for it!
I wish I'd thought of all of these things when my kids were younger.
I wish I hadn't wasted time worrying about silly things.
I wish I would have enjoyed that time with my kids more.
Wishing things were different won't make it so.
All I can do is try to do things different.
This year, with these lists:
media contract
We have been in a much better place to enjoy our time together.
We are having fun, making memories, but we are also getting our duties are done as well,
which helps me to relax and enjoy summer!.
Don't think that we are perfect, because we're not.
There are plenty of things that go wrong on a daily basis.
But we wake up each new day ready to try again.
This summer, with the end in mind (18 summers) here's what I'm doing:
I'm going to RELAX more.
It's ok to have my kids help out around the house so that I don't feel like the maid.
It's also ok, to set my duties aside to play a game with my kids or take them to the pool.
It's also ok for me to sit down a read a book for a bit.
It's also ok to relax the housekeeping standards a bit. (I need to keep this one in mind, for sure)
I'm going to stick to a schedule a little bit.
I have a tendency to let all structure fly out the window
with the excuse that it's summer vacation.
But everyone gets grumpy, including me!
We all need guidelines.
So this summer we are keeping to fairly consistent wake up and bedtimes.
We eat at certain times of the day (and we're using our meal chart)
and go to bed around the same time.
It's a little later than during the school year, but that's ok too.
It's not my job to entertain my kids ALL DAY LONG.
It's ok for them to entertain themselves, find something to do, or just be bored.
I'm going to cut myself some slack and in turn cut everyone else slack too!
