There’s only one more day until summer vacation starts and I go from being “Morning, Late Afternoon, and Evening Mom” to “All Damned Day Mom.” If my kids had their way, they would sit in the air conditioning and watch YouTube or play Minecraft for 12 hours a day, but that would probably make me a bad parent. Other than morning swim lessons for the month of June, a couple of weekend trips, a weeklong day camp in July, and Summer Bridge workbooks, I have no idea what to do with these people.
Just as with any sort of important question I may have (“Should I get bangs?” “Should I be concerned about this mole?”), I consulted the almighty Google. The suggestion I got over and over was that I need to create a schedule. Some moms had a theme for each day, like “Water Wednesdays” and “Make-It Mondays,” while others took a more detailed approach and scheduled every moment of the day. After much thought, here’s the schedule I came up with:
- Go to library.
I read about moms who created a summer bucket list for their kids, which consisted of an actual bucket their kids decorated and filled with slips of paper containing things they would like to do. If I let my kids do this, here’s the sort of thing they would come up with:
– Go shopping at Justice
– Buy more LEGOs
– Eat candy
– Watch Scooby-Doo non-stop for three straight days
– Eat at a restaurant
– Order American Girl dolls
– Eat cookies
– Get a dog
– Eat ice cream
I don’t think I can trust them to know what is best for themselves. Really, there should just be one slip of paper in the bucket that says, “Lie on couch and complain of boredom” because that’s exactly what they’ll end up doing.
We’ve survived summers before, of course, but to tell you the truth, I don’t recall what we’ve done in the past. I’m guessing it was so traumatic that I’ve just blocked it all out.
I’m not made of money, and I’ve got kids of different genders who are at different points in their lives (one is ten, one is six), which further complicates things. So, I’m asking you, dear readers who are staring down the barrel of summer, what do you do with your kids?
This will not be me
Shannon Not Sharon 
Well I’m the horrible mom who is making him go to day camp *every day*. He insists that at age 10 he is old enough to stay home alone all day while we work.
Day camp every day sounds great!
I hate those moms that do all that pinterest, organized, planny bullshit. Summers were meant to feel endless for children. The Dog Days of Summer. Long, hot, sunny days full of nothing more than what their little imaginations can conceive. Open up the door and kick them out into the great big world of “figure it out yourself”.
There will be time for them to do what they want. I just can’t trust them to do what they want all day, all summer.
Also Shannon, my daughter would agree with the “sit on the computer all day and play games” and the “get a puppy or kitten”. Add to her list “eat nothing buy sweets” and “watch every show on Disney Jr and Hub”. She would only go outside to swim and dig in her garden. That garden is nothing more than dirt in the back of my flower bed. Which has no flowers.
Love the “gardening” idea!
um…your job is to raise them, not entertain them. Turn off all the electronics and tell them to entertain themselves. And if they annoy you, kick them outside. Also, that whole “bucket” thing? Fill it full of chores. Every time they’re “bored,” have ’em pick from the Big Bucket o’ Fun. They’ll learn quick enough.
Steve, you would make an excellent nanny. How soon can you get here?