I have come up with a plan.
School's out for summer (post about the festivities coming soon). We have approximately 50 Summer weekdays at home to fill (when you take out vacations and such). That is a scary number when you have a chronic temper tantrum thrower like we do. When I was a kid I spent pretty much every single day of the summer outdoors. I was jumping on the neighbors trampoline, rollerblading around the neighborhood, and especially riding my bike everywhere. It seems like these days kids spend a lot more time indoors playing video games or watching tv, and I'm determined to not let my kids waste their summer that way. (Not to mention I think those activities have a lot to do with the obesity epidemic in children).
Anyway, I made a schedule. Yes, I'm a geek, but I want to avoid "couch potato-itis" and also, my kids thrive on routine (as I think most children do). The biggest thing I've learned from Dexter being in preschool is that having a set schedule everyday leads to less tantrums because he always knows what to expect. That's right, my sanity shall remain in tact come fall, AND Dexter and I will still be friends (instead of enemies due to his constant tantrums and my angry yelling and giving him timeouts).
Thanks to Rachel at Trapped Between a Scream and a Hug for many of the fun activities we have planned. I'm actually looking forward to Summer now, rather than dreading it. Here's the schedule, placed right where the kids can see it.
4 comments:
What a great idea. You are such a good Mom! I think your summers and my summers were pretty similar growing up - outside or nothing at all!
Sounds like an awesome plan, I think that will work.
I played outside all the time too, it was hot in Phoenix, but weloved making mud pie's paying hide and seek and running through the sprinklers.
I am an organization geek too. Maybe even worse -- my summer schedule is on an Excell Spreadsheet. The kids complained at first, "what? we can't just watch TV or play computer all day?" but now they are really enjoying it. It brings me peace to have a schedule. I love your fun activity list. I went to the blog you linked to and got a few new great ideas. Thanks.
Good idea. Adam needs to do that for the kids too.
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