Happy Summer!

Today is our last day of school which means summer is officially HERE!  WooHoo!  I love summer.  It's my favorite season by far.  Even with the heat and the sticky popsicle hands and the kids out of school.  I love all of it.  The nights are longer, the days are snugglier.  Everyone moves a little slower.  Sprinkler on in the back yard, spend all day without a schedule, stay at the pool until the sun sets- SUMMER.

BUT (you knew there had to be a "but", right?),  even with all of that summer love, I do best with a little structure.  And I've found that my kids do, too.  So here are a few things that we do to give our summer fun some structure and keep mama from feeling crazy.  Plus, a little way we kick off summer with a festive bang.

1. Summer Swag Bags

Our last day of school is a big party reminiscent of a feel good 80's movie.  Music blares from the speakers outside school and kids come running out of the doors and all the parents stand and cheer.  Then all of the teachers line up beside the buses and wave to kids with outstretched hands out the bus windows as they pull out of the parking lot for the last time that year, officially marking the beginning of what every kid lives for: summer break.  God, I love our town.  My kids take the bus, but I hate to miss this fanfare, so I always go to school, watch them load the bus, wipe away tears as the teachers all wave to the kids and the kids chant, "SUMMER! SUMMER!" right back.  And then I haul you-know-what home in time to meet the bus at our house.  Totally worth it.

The fun doesn't stop there, though.  When my kids gets home, I like to greet them with Summer Swag Bags.  These are basically all fun things for them to use that summer.  Examples of summer swag bag contents include, fun goggles, water balloons, a new bathing suit, dive sticks, mermaid tails, bubbles, etc.  My kids always forget that they are coming so it makes them a really fun surprise when they get home from their last day, and it's a great positive way to kick off summer!  And, (lean in close so you can hear this secret), it's all stuff I would have probably bought them anyway.  I just save it and give it to them in a gift bag so it feels like a "present".   Happy kids.  Happy mom.  Happy summer.

2. Summer Sandbucket List

We have so many fun things we like to do over the summer.  People we like to visit, special parks we like to play at, and certain activities we don't want to miss.   A few years ago I started a "Sandbucket list", which is a bucket list, but for summer of course.  The kids and I sit down together and each of us add our can't miss summer favorites to the list.  Then the kids draw a picture to become the theme- usually something they are all looking most forward to doing.  This year, our picture is of the Sound of Music being played on the big screen theatre in our backyard. (Blog post to come on this, as well.) We spend our summer checking things off the list.  If our kids ever get "bored" (a word we're not allowed to use in our house) we look at the list and think of something we can do!  We usually are able to check everything off our list.  There are bigger items like "visit the zoo" or "go to the water park".  But the real summer joy comes in the little things like,  "jump rope" or "make a hopscotch", or "stargaze".  These are the times we take to slow down together.  Be at home, reconnect and come back together.  Happy kids.  Happy mom.  Happy summer.

3. Sticks

Because even I know that everything can't always be all fun and games,  the kids each have a few chores that they do each day.  To keep track of them all, and reward when they are completed, we recently learned about the Sticks program.  Here's how it works:  Each child has 10 sticks in a cup.  On those sticks I have written things that I'd like for them to do each day.  Things like,  "Make your Bed", "Brush your Teeth", "Read for 20 minutes", "Do Something Kind for a Sibling", etc.  Each day the children take their sticks out of their cup and they chose which order they do them in (that part is key).  When they complete the tasks on their stick, they put that stick back in the cup.  At the end of the day, if all 10 sticks are back in their cup, they get a gold stick.  When they have 10 gold sticks, they can trade them in for something they value.  Examples of that would be to go get ice cream, have a sleepover, get a small mash 'em toy, etc.   I like this program because it celebrates good behavior, it encourages independent goal completion, but also allows them to start over fresh every day if they fall short.

My kids are jazzed about this.  They don't think of it as chores and work.  They focus on the gold sticks and the chance at sugar and beanie boos.  Magic.  Happy kids.  Happy mom.  Happy summer.

And really that is my main summer goal; for everyone to be happy.  To slow down a little.  To laugh a lot.  To enjoy each other.  To soak up the sun.  To read a lot.  I want to allow my kids to be children.  I want them to make memories that they talk about when they are 40.  And I want the chance to make that all easy enough that I make it to September with my sanity in tact.  And I don't want to have to pack another lunch box or backpack for 3 months.  Happy kids.  Happy mom.  Happy summer.  May it be your families best one yet.