Summer

I used to hate the summer. I am not someone who enjoys the heat, and the lack of structure that seems to come with the season kind of stresses me out. But, these past few years, I have come to love it. Mostly, because I have returned to college with a rigorous curriculum and the summer is my only down-time.

However, having a kid home from school for the summer is exhausting!!! I work nights, so he goes to day camp the days after I work so that I can sleep. And I am only part-time, so I am home and awake most days with him home with me. I plan activities such as the pool, movies, bowling, day trips to the beach, playdates, parks, baking, crafts...he has been to baseball games, the circus....this child is busy most of the time. Not to mention the activities he has planned for him when he does go to camp.

So why do I get greeted each morning with 'what are we going to do today??' When I was a kid, we spent our summer days home, played with kids in the neighborhood and saw an occasional movie. We might go to the lake a few times, and always went on a week-long beach trip. But, the little day-to-day activities my kid gets didn't exist. We made ourselves busy. While I am sure I proclaimed my fair share and then some of boredom, I did not come to expect to have an action-packed schedule planned out for me day after day...

Perhaps this is where I have gone wrong. Well, today we are 'not doing anything.' He is currently playing with cars on a race track and surviving just fine. I am sure we will hit some bumps along the way, but it is what it is.

How do you keep your kids 'busy' in the summer??