The Change Of Seasons | Summer Rhythms
Ah summer, you are so very delicious.
You start slowly around here and as you ripen you provide lots of joy and light and opportunities for connection. Thank you for reliably coming around again.
As we dip our toes into summer around here I've been spending a bit of time thinking about how I'd like to experience the next few months.
I want to live the length and the width of my life. (referencing this quote from Diane Ackerman)
Some people talk about surviving summer. My approach is this: how can I really be present during the summer? How can I take advantage of the things that are really special and unique to this season like longer daylight hours, fresh foods, kids out of school, etc? I want my kids to grow up knowing the deliciousness of summer.
Life is so different during these months of the year - I want to give myself the gift of full participating in and enjoying the next couple of months.
Here's some things I'm hoping for myself for this summer:
- Eat lunch outside. Get away from my desk and into the light.
- Work smarter to finish up what I need to earlier in the day to open up more family time in the afternoon and evening. This is the biggest challenge for me and also the biggest reward. If I'm here a bit less know that it's because I'm living up to what I set out to do this summer - live the length and the width of it.
- Handwritten notes. Build in time for writing notes - to grandparents, to friends, people who have done something nice.
- Support Chris on his quest to master the BBQ (maybe "become proficient" is a better term than master).
- Help Simon learn to ride his bike. He was doing fine with training wheels but once they came off it became a lot scarier to him.
- Generally go slower. Ride my bike (loved how we did that for date night last week). Go to the pool. Sip instead of gulp.
- Instill a sense of love and wonder in my kids about the outdoors. Go on hikes. Take walks around the neighborhood. Camp. Be outside in the evening. Lay in the grass and look up at the sky (Simon is awesome at that).
- Keep up the garden not out of a sense of obligation but of love. The veggies are coming along great. The sweet peas are amazing. The sunflowers are waist high.
A few weeks ago I also mentioned that we were turning off the TV for the summer. We are following through with that and have found what seems to be working for us: no TV or computer movies during the day with one movie at night as an option depending on the plan for the evening.
So far that's been going okay. Except for that time last weekend when I was out for a bit and Simon & Anna carried my laptop upstairs into Simon's room, closed the door and proceeded to start watching Dora after Chris had reminded them about no TV/computer. Not good...but I do kinda love that they are developing that special sibling bond.
Really what it takes is a bit of planning on our part to have suggestions and ideas for them when they start getting bored and start asking to watch a movie. Here's the list of activities and options (that I'm going to make into a printed list that I can tell Simon to go check out) that I'm encouraging:
- Legos.
- Swimming.
- Letter writing. I've got a list of people they can write notes to - family and friends and a pen-pal that Simon is overdue on writing back.
- Go outside. Mess around. Turn on the sprinkler. Climb a tree. Chase each other around. Jump on the mini-trampolines
- Workbooks. These can be puzzle books like dot to dot or word searches or some other academic workbook. Something quiet, at the table, that engages a different part of the brain for a bit.
- Read.
- Play cars on the front porch.
- Color or paint or draw or make a treasure map.
- A trip to the library. Or maybe play library with the bunches of books we have here.
I know I'll think of other things as soon as I hit publish.
In our living room we've got a closet on the other side of our couch that holds games, books, a couple baskets of Anna-sized toys, some legos, etc. I'm using that as a command center with baskets for the different themes (one holds workbooks, one holds art supplies, etc) which makes them easy to grab. Getting that set up is in progress - I need to take some time later today to remove the toys that are now too little and add them to our donation pile.
Have you thought about what you'd like to see for yourself or your family this summer? Do you have a list of activities for your kids when they start getting antsy?
Where can I find a pen pal for my 8 year old? That is an awesome idea, but I want to be safe. Love, love, love your list Ali!
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When my boys were little I made up 'letter centers' for them. Just a box (decorated or not) with pencils, envelopes, and paper inside. I created several sets of very simple letterhead for them with pictures of things they loved at the time. It made letter writing a little bit special and more fun.
love the idea of playing library. I'm sure you have a few library pockets in your stash :)
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The list he can choose from, well all of my kids, is what gets us through EVERY day :) If it wasn't there than he wold be on the computer watching movies. It really helps the flow of everything and cuts down on whining which can happen with 5 kids.
For Damian he has goals he has to work on but he gets a dry erase board with them listed and 10 minute breaks in between. Helps with transitions.
Your list for Simon has some good activities on there! I might be writing some of those down.
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My husband and I have started trying something new when one of our 3 kids says "I'm bored". We do a little jujitsu and say something along the lines of "Hmmm, yah, it's really a drag to feel bored. I don't like that either" and just leave it there. Usually, the child wanders away and we find them engrossed in some activity or another a few minutes later. If instead, they persist with "what should I do?" we go to the classic "What do you think" or "What ideas do you have?". Basically, we just try to resist the urge to "fix" the issue for them and instead encourage them to come up with their own solutions.
I like the idea of encouraging them to come up with their own solutions. Around here they just tend to need a little nudge in the right direction :).
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My kids loved to play library! One day I found that they had taken the utensil drawer out of their Step Two play kitchen and were using the opening as the book slot to drop their library books through, pretending to be returning them. One was putting them into the slot, and the other was the "librarian" and would take the book and "scan" its barcode to check it back in using the 'scanner' from their toy cash register. Then they'd trade roles. So cute, and such great imaginations!
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I think those of us that "survive summer" live in the deep south! Your summer sounds a lot like our spring! ;) We are still making the best of it. Enjoy and thanks for sharing your life with us.
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My kids had a very limited tv viewing time during the summertime (they are all adults now) many years ago. They each had a list of chores for the day and we kept a running list of 'things to do' in case they were bored. My kids used to love doing most of the things you have on your list and we did a few other things: use sidewalk chalk; fingerpaint with pudding (hose cleaning needed afterwards); picnic lunch; scavenger or treasure hunt; gardening; make a tent over a table or clothesline; or lay on your back and look at clouds.
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Thought you might be interested in a bike camp for Simon called "Lose the Training Wheels" www.losethetrainingwheels.org/ It's a week-long camp designed to help special needs kids learn how to ride a bike independently. Camps are held all over the US (I'm helping host one in Seattle), there's one in Portland which is very well-run. Also one in Longview, WA (near Vancouver WA), but it may be going on this week. Good luck!
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Thanks for our post Ali! This post came at a perfect time :) Today I had set up the slip-n-slide for my kids and nieces. After about 10 minutes of getting great shots of them, all 4 kids were begging me to join them. At first I declined. I had planned on enjoying the sun with a good book while I supervised them. And if I'm honest with myself, I haven't liked the way I've been looking so I didn't want to put on a bathing suit. Then I thought to myself, "They do not think you are fat. They just want you to play with them." So I quietly snuck into the house, put on my bathing suit and surprised them by joining in on the slip-n-slide. It was so fun! I even handed my niece the camera so she could get some shots of me. I also want to be more in the moment this summer. This was a great start to it!
That is awesome.
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How FUNNY about Dora on the laptop!!! They are too cute, Ali!!! Give them an A for effort!!!
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Inspiring Ali. I'm half way there to living the entire length and width and life. Still working on that end goal. Great reminder though.
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For the last few summers, I've had my kids create "I'm Bored" lists.
They have to create a list of things to do at home and they can't cost money...ride bikes, paint, build a fort, play guitar/piano, create a play, puzzles, do some pages in a workbook, read, etc.
We then decorate them and put them up on the wall in the kitchen.
Then whenever they come and tell me "I'm Bored," I remind them to go look at their lists. Works like a charm!
By the way....deciding on lunches in the summer can be challenging as well so we do a similar lists to help. I have the kids work together to brainstorm a list of lunch foods they really like. Then when it's lunchtime, they look at the list. (Kind of like a menu at a restaurant!) It also helps me with grocery shopping as I look at their lunch lists and use that to prompt things I need to add to my grocery list. (I also have them rotate with a different child selecting the lunch menu for each day. Otherwise I'd end up making three different lunch selections.)
These two ideas have helped a lot at our house!
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Hey Ali! Great lists! I have a delicious recommendation for Chris...the Weber Cookbooks (by Jamie Purviance) are fantastic! The recipes are yummy and the instructions are easy to follow. They even include sauces, veggies, side dishes and desserts...almost all made on the grill.
Happy Summer!
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I am also attempting to take the tv out of our daily life for the summer. I want us to be more active and engaging with each other!
- Library for sure
- swimming
- Play at the park
- Farmer's Market trips (we have 1 somewhere every day, just have to travel some days)
- Regal $1 movies on rainy days
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I have 4-6 kids here everyday during the summer so I create "themes" for each week. This weeks theme was 4th of July/ America. Everything we did or ate was centered around red, white, or blue...we had so much fun but learned a bunch too.
Since I know Simon is a huge lego fan I thought I'd share with you a tip that I have been doing with my kids/nephews/and daycare children. When I am preparing lunch I give them a specific task with the legos. This week they had to work together to find all of the red, white, and blue blocks and come up with a plan to create a flag. ON another day they had to create lady liberty with the green blocks. It was amazing that there were no fights and they were all so proud of their finished creations. I am writing more ideas for specific lego creations on popsicle sticks so that they can pull one out of the cup when they are bored:) Happy Summer Edwards family!
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I have the best memories of summers with my kids. Popsicles, slip n slides, crafts etc. I think you have a great list and will have an awesome summer because you are so mindful of it. I have one child left at home who is almost 16 and this summer still does not compare to those sweet summers when kids were little and up for anything. One treasured thing I did with my two oldest was a shadowbox. I got a 12 x 12 at Michaels and they picked out the background paper. All summer they collected little bits of things, rocks, shells candy wrappers. Whatever they wanted and glued them down. I stll love looking at what was so important to them at that age. TIme flies, enjoy your summer.
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Hi Ali :-) As a homeschooling mama I've had to come up with many ideas for our kiddos to do around here when we have spare time. I took photographs of every activity they could do that I could think of; activities that were easy to access in baskets in the learning room or lounge room. I printed off mini photos, wrote labels and laminated them. This had helped our family (and our autistic son) immensely. You can check it out here: http://homeschoolingmamalusi.blogspot.com/2011/01/one-way-to-stop-im-bored-theres-nothing.html
We are in winter over here but each year we've sat down and written out 'our Winter Wonderful' or 'Sensational Summer' list full of brainstormed ideas by the whole family on what to do and where to go these seasonal holidays. Makes our holidays fun, intentional and helps ensure we all stay living in the moment!
With love,
Lusi x
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I haven't read through all 84 comments, so I apologize I this is a repeat. I have 2 children, each a bit younger than yours, and two things on my list include building a fort with blankets and havin the older one build an obstacle course for the younger.
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one Summer we saved up empty grocery items, combined w/ our plastic food and had a grocery store in the living room, we have a pretend cash register, cart etc, give them some bags to fill etc...this year we have out all the hotwheels and tracks so far...this is always a time to look at our toys and summer started w/ the neighborhood garage sale so that was good. And we saw cousins to hand down toys to too. Chalk on the driveway and bubbles are always popular too.
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PS there's tents inside on raining days, tunnels whatever you have....
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