Ok, so the summer is in full swing. The AC is running without reprieve, that winter flu is far behind you (we hope) and the house is in an endless life cycle of messy piles of leftover play, and constant cleaning, tidying and disarray.
That’s right summer is here and your kids are home more than usual. You need to find that happy balance of Queen of the Rays or Summer Bummer. The Summer Bummer is the Mom who has “had it up to Here!” (Interject hand a foot above her head) it’s the banshee barking over her shoulder to the back seat “I will turn this car around right now!” Worse yet it is the parent who can’t fathom dragging their little three-ring circus out to the beach or park or on that camping trip because they can’t take “it” anymore.
The infamous Summer Bummer doesn’t wanna go, she/he wants to stay home kick up her feet and sip on her wine and get fifteen minutes of peace and quiet. And that is fine and well deserved. But taking your kiddos to the beach lets say it doesn’t have to be all work and no fun.
One piece of advice is, try to always use the buddy system. Team up with another fellow Summer Bummer, another Mom or friend with kids so your kids aren’t just fighting with each other. Leave the world of house messes and paperwork behind, pack up those little rabble-rousers and pile into the car. Load the cooler packed with half homemade snacks, half easy fixings from the store. Fill your biggest park bag with towels, blankets, and juice for spritzers in your best plastic tumbler. Be sure to keep a supply of park and sand friendly toys in a box in the back of your car. You can relax, or play with the kids, and let them mostly self serve. You sip from your tumblers and suntan and watch the magic of childhood take hold. If you plan your trip with a buddy take turns reading or napping, just listening to the waves, as long as one of you has an eye on the little ones you are all set.
This is all you need for summer, and it can translate to nearly every summer location, the park, the beach, a bowling ally, the pool, camping, the movie theatre. The main point is if you let the kids be free to enjoy their summer, you will be more available to enjoy yours.
So you too can enjoy the waves, the sun, the smell of sunblock, the feeling of grass under your feet and the sounds of your children’s laughter. These days kids are too often asked to bottle their abundance of energy and reserve it for the outlets that best suit the adults, but if more and more adults turned off their Summer Bummer within, they would see that the kids had the right idea all along.