In just a couple days, little lady will be done with preschool and summer 2017 will officially begin!  Who else is wondering where in the heck the school year has gone? I mean….weren’t we just picking out the first day of school outfit like last week?! Anyway, as hard as it may seem to understand how much time has past in such a short period, summer is upon us and it’s definitely time to start lining out summer activities and schedules to make the most out of the next few months.

Honestly, I have an ulterior motive for wanting to make this summer full of fun activities for my kiddos.  I’m already thinking about the end of August approaching and the day coming when I watch little lady walk into kindergarten.  I can’t deny it, I’m going to be an absolute mess.  She’s such an amazing kid and I’m going to miss spending the majority of my days with her and hearing a lot of what she has to say.  Therefore, before I start crying behind my keyboard, my goal in making this simple schedule for the summer is to make sure we don’t spend our days lost in mindless day to day activities and wondering where all that time has gone. I want to get the most out of these short months and soak in as much of her personality as I possibly can.

Having said all of that, I have been a mom for almost five years and one of the things I have learned about schedules in that time is that they are nearly impossible to keep if you expect too much. It is way more enjoyable for everyone involved if you keep the number of activities minimal and the expectations of how you want the activity to play out low.  Don’t get me wrong…I still tend to have my thoughts drift to how I would like things to play out, but I refuse to let it ruin my day, my memories, and especially my kids’ memories if it doesn’t go that way.  Having fun is the most important reason for the activity, having a perfect outcome doesn’t really matter at the end of the day.

Therefore, when I started thinking about making our summer activity schedule, I knew I wanted to keep it simple and flexible to ensure we were all having a good time without unnecessary pressure; but I also knew I needed something planned out to remind myself to consciously make memories with the kids each day.  With that in mind, I came up with themed days throughout the week as well as a list of things for the kids to do each day by themselves, with each other, or with mom and/or dad.

One thing that I absolutely cannot do is put a time slot to these items.  I’ve tried it, failed, and ended up miserable trying to keep up with it.  The reason for this is mainly because of my random work hours at home.  Right now, I work when I’m able to and the meetings that I have throughout the week are rarely set too far ahead of schedule.  If I try to put my daily activities with the kids into a certain time and then end up having a meeting at that time, I either hurry through the activity with the kids or I skip it altogether that day.  Both of those options make me feel terrible and I end up not having a good time.  Therefore, having the activity happen when it happens works much better for me and my family, but that is not to say that is the same for everyone.  I’ve seen people that have more set schedules have a great outcome in putting activities into a certain time of their day because they know and can plan their other obligations around that time.  No family is the same and what works for one will probably not work for the other.  The important thing is taking time for one another and making memories with the kids while they think we are still fun enough to hang out with…

Now that you know some of my plans for the upcoming months….what is on your summer to-do list? Are there any summer traditions you enjoy with your family? Share in the comments!

Have a beautiful day!