You know I love Happier, right? Well, this week's episode could not have been better timed for me because it was all about planning your summer. While I think this idea is more relevant for people whose work does not give them a big fat summer break, it is also useful for me, as I stare down the barrel of lots of work and no childcare. Ben is working almost full time this summer, and I am most definitely NOT. Still, I have a book to write and a class to manage, and there will be 4 delightful little cherubs home with me. My favorite nugget of wisdom from Happier is "Don't treat a gift like a burden," so I am going to try really hard to cherish (in an un-ironic way) all of the free time the kids and I will have this summer. I am thrilled that they don't have to spend all day in a rotating series of cobbled together camps and that I can be home and at the pool and trolling Target. Really, truly I mean it.
We have a vacation scheduled in August, which is the perfect time to go away because the novelty of the pool and laying around has for sure worn off by then. The kids will do swim and dive lessons in the morning, and Harry is taking tennis twice a week in June (and if he likes it, we'll continue it all summer). He also has baseball some more after the regular baseball season ends, and I am nagging the hell out of Ben to sign all the boys up for some kind of skating lessons or a camp or something so they don't lose all of their skills before October. Oh! And Harry and Jack are doing track through mid-July. Plus I signed up again to do some parents-of-freshman orientation sessions at my school. And did I mention Ben is teaching almost a full load and I have my summer class as usual?
Clearly, we have a lot going on, and I have stopped telling myself that we are off. The kids, though, will not have their state-mandated 8 hours of away time every day, so I need to step up my mom game quite a bit.
Every week, my days with the kids will have:
A Bucky hunt
A trip to the library
A visit to a new park
A movie
That's 4 activities a week every week that will cost almost nothing and will get us the hell out of the house. Maybe some days, these will be combined-- the library has a summer movie series, for example, and lost of Buckys are near parks. But other weeks, this could take me through Thursday with a little bit of fun and low key adventure everyday. At the same time, this is not a rigid plan, so I will probably not totally stress and make it un-fn.
Follow along with my hashtags:
#planyoursummer
#buckyonparade
#harrytimes2018reads
#newparksummer
#harryitmessummermovieseries
Hi Sarah! Have you heard of the book The Story Grid by Shawn Coyne? I haven't read it, but an author I've read that self published on Amazon used it and said it was really helpful for working on her novel. I think there's also a podcast that dovetails with the book. I'm not sure if it would be helpful, but I thought I'd pass along the info. Your summer plans sound great!
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