It’s almost summer. My kids have a week and a half of school left, and I’m so excited. I love not having anywhere to be – and our summer is a perfect example of “nowhere to be”. Since my husband and I both work from home, summer brings about a certain time of relaxation for our entire family. We go where the wind blows us each day. We get done what needs to be done, and then (usually) (mostly) enjoy each others’ company.
But for a few months now, I’ve been anticipating what in the world I’m going to do with the kids all summer. I typically assign each day of the week to an easy “task”. For example, on Monday we do some Math worksheets that I find online based on their grade level. On Tuesday, we go to the library and they usually then read all on their own. Wednesdays is for writing/handwriting. Thursday is their weekly screen time for an hour or so. Friday is “fun” which means I rotate around something one or all of them would consider fun (a craft, an outside activity, a fun outing, etc). These assigned “tasks” only take us 20 minutes to an hour (depending on what we are doing), but it’s something they’ve come to like and look forward to. The rest of their day is up to them.
However, that causes me a lot of work preparing our weeks, printing the worksheets, buying the supplies, and so on. So the past few weeks, I’ve been starting to make all that happen. While I’m certainly a person who loves being prepared, it does mean I have to really put my mind to work. I do this ahead of vacations, holidays, events, and so on. So it actually feels like I’m always preparing for something. Which means my mind is always at work… for days, weeks, months ahead of time.
I also work in the world of production, where we are always working on something a month ahead of time.
All of this to say, it’s often a very conscious effort on my part to be in the moment. As I prep for the summer ahead, I’m trying to remind myself that my son is completing 2nd grade, and my daughter is graduating from Kindergarten. They’ve learned so much this year, and grown so much. So as I work on readying our house for the summer, I’m also actively working to be in the moment. To celebrate their academic and personal growth, but to also remember they’re only 8 and 6 once – and that my 3-year-old is only 3 once.
So here’s to living in the moment this summer – I hope yours is filled with lots of joy, memories, and appreciation for the life you’ve been given!