Tips

Streamline Your Summer With the Kids at Home

Schools out, and the kids are home!  Whether you’re thrilled at the freedom of the lazy days of a summer together  or groaning at the thought of entertaining a houseful of kids for three months, you have to admit, summertime is an adjustment.  Try these tips for making the most of it while keeping your sanity.

• As a family, make two posters: “Fun Stuff To Do” and “We Did It!”  Get a pad of sticky notes and write as many ideas of things you’d like to do this summer  – a different single activity on each post-it – and attach them to the first poster.  Try to make most of them easy and inexpensive, like “family game night” or “bike through the forest preserve” but also include a few adventures like “take the train down to the Sears Tower” or “see the dinosaurs at the Brookfield Zoo.”  This way, you’ll have lots of ideas to choose from on those loooong empty days on the calendar, and can move the sticky notes from the first poster to the second as you do them.  And at the end of the summer, you can look at the “We Did It” poster and remember all the fun you had!
• Keep a summer folder or binder with info on all the summer activities you’ve signed up for (swim lesson schedule, drama camp guidelines) and some that you are still thinking about (park district program guide) to reference when needed.  Purge it as the activities are done so it doesn’t get too cluttered.
• Maintain an easy-to-remember routine for the chores or academic skills you don’t want to slip through the cracks during the summer.  “Math on Mondays” or “Wash your Clothes Wednesdays” will do the trick.  And don’t forget “Sundaes on Sundays!”
• Keep a backyard supply box near the back door, with sunscreen, bug repellant, bandaids and sunglasses, and restock it regularly.
• Get family chores done before the adventures of the day begin.  It’s no fun to drag the kids away from the neighborhood lemonade stand to come in and clean their rooms, but first thing in the morning it’ll get done much quicker if going to the pool is next on the agenda!

Summer is a magical time for kids.  With a few simple organizing strategies in place, you’ll free yourself from stress and share in that magic – and isn’t that what we all hope for this summer?

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