Summertime Scheduling for Success

When my girls were growing up, I was one of those moms that was completely excited for SUMMER VACATION!!!! I cherished all the time we would have together during the summer. Although our girls were very involved in community sports and church activities during the summer, we loved the more relaxed schedule. We filled our days with a balanced combination of creative projects like learning new skills like cooking, sewing, crafting, gardening and unstructured outdoor fun with friends swimming and having barbecues and sleepovers. Summer was a time to use the local resources for educational opportunities. We joined the summer reading programs, and looked for art, music and dance classes available in our community. The opportunities are endless but it does take some planning. The other day I heard a wonderful program on the local Christian radio station that was giving tips for summertime survival, so I thought I would summarize a few of the points.

Some great encouragement for all of us as we begin to plan for a successful summer:

DAILY PAUSE-Take time each day to enjoy the beauty of God’s creation. Spend some time listening to the birds, looking at the clouds, smelling the flowers that are blooming. You can easily do this in your own back yard or at the park or just schedule in a regular time to go on a walk each day and practice using your 5 senses to discover the world around you. A daily pause can also be practiced in the form of an informal check-in with each one of your children. Around the breakfast table as you go over your schedule for the day you can make sure to connect with each child. A daily pause might work better for your family in the evening around the dinner table or at bedtime when you tuck the kids in bed. If you are a praying family, a daily pause might be when you talk about your day and ask about the prayer needs of your children.
WEEKLY ESCAPE-Take time as a family to plan some special one day or partial day events.  A trip to the beach, a hike in a local park, a bike ride together as a family, a planned trip to the community pool, a barbecue with friends, serving together at a charity event, volunteering together as a family for an organization that you support…..the list is endless and can be customized to your children’s ages and their interests. But take the time to plan one event per week and get input from your children, and write the events on the calendar so everyone knows the plan.
GREAT ADVENTURE-Parents as well as kids need time together without the distractions that normally clutter our daily lives. Taking the time as a family to help plan a great summer adventure helps to insure that the kids will be “all in” when the time comes to go on the family vacation. Some families like to go to the same spot each year. Other families like to go different places each summer. We love to camp and had many fun adventures camping with our girls when they were young. Now that our family has grown, we have “Family Camp” at our house for one week during the summer.
BUDGET SUMMERTIME-Although the concept of budgeting your summer sounds rigid, it is actually freeing to have a schedule that includes relaxation and organized fun. When you budget your summertime, you are choosing “how” to spend your time. You can be intentional in “who” you want to spend time with and “where” you want to be and “what” you want to be doing. Our kids liked to be able to anticipate the scheduled fun that we had planned. It seemed to make it easier to get their cooperation in chores and projects around the house when they had an activity to look forward to.
SPIRITUAL TRAINING-Remember that summertime is not just a time to relax, it can be a time for “training up a child”, so pull out those Bible memory cards and become a “Well Versed Family“. Participate in a Vacation Bible School and when the kids are too old to attend the week as participants, they can be helpers. Working as a family to serve others is also a fun thing to do in the summer. One summer, Rachel was in charge of organizing a program at our church called Summer Servants. They made t-shirts to wear to all their service projects and they had fun together, serving in our community.

Take some of these ideas and start to plan your summer!!!

A few resources for a successful summer:

Magazines published by Focus on the Family
Thriving Family
Clubhouse and Clubhouse Jr.

Books
Surviving Summer Vacation: Plans and Prayers for a Mom’s Sanity (eBook)
Managing Your Family’s Summer Schedule by Dr. Greg and Erin Smalley

Radio Programs
Focus Daily and Family Life Today Broadcasts on your local Christian radio station

Apps
Focus Daily and Family Life Audio available on your iPhone/iPad

What are some of your helpful tips for having a successful summer?