i may or may not have gotten a teeny tiny bit emotional as i watched big yellow school buses pulling out of the school parking lot with teachers lining the sidewalk, waving to the departing students- providing a most memorable bon voyage.
i also may or may not have gotten a teeny tiny bit emotional as oldest daughter was awarded the honors of academic excellence and student of the month.
even, i may have experienced a bit of emotion at middle daughter's kindergarten performance earlier in the week.
these are my kids. they make me proud. they make me smile. and some days, they make me tired. and now, i have them for a whole summer- all to myself. until school starts again on july 28th. (i may be a teeny tiny bit emotional on that day as well)
so, when you have your kids all to yourself, all summer long, what do you do? i'm not talking about whether or not you go crazy, more along the lines of activities and bonding moments. what fun trips do you plan? what crafts? what excursions? what rewards? what do you expect of your bambinos during summer break?
i think we will implement the 3 otter pop plan again this summer. it was a smashing success last year. also, i think we will play. hard.
so, share with me your best bits. i need to know what you do- so i can do the same. and maybe other moms might want some ideas as well.
7 comments:
My favorites have always been our field trips. We try to do one a week. Sometimes we do fun things like go to a lake or new pool. Other times we go to a museum, a tour of a factory, or power plant, etc. The kids loved going to the Stoney Field Farms yogurt factory to see how yogurt is made (and eat the samples!) for example. Check out the farms and businesses in your area and call to see if you can stop by. I've missed them the past couple of years. Scout camp. girls camp, now summer band, 5th grade camp, and scouts in general are eating up our days and we haven't even started, yet. Have a great summer!
This is the last summer that is not a summer vacation. Spiderman goes to kdg in the fall. I have no idea what we're going to do this summer. I have a SIL in Boise now -- we'll probably spend a week with her. My parents and brother will come to visit for two weeks. Other than that......I really don't know. Park. Sprinklers. Feeding the ducks. Free stuff. :o)
Like your 3 otter pop plan.
Such emotional days, truly!
I love the 3 Otter Pop rule. Very clever!
I have NO good ideas for you, yet. Not of school age yet, everyday is a "summer day" at my house!
We're going to run away to Utah again in a couple of weeks. But what's nice about that is that it allows us to do so many more things outside. I'm planning lots of bike riding, roller blading (Haley got some for her birthday!), playing in the water, museum hopping (with the Salt Lake Connect Pass), and playing with FOUR of my siblings!
My kids love to play on the computer, so I've made it more structured for the summer. I printed off and laminated (with packaging tape) tickets redeemable for computer time. They each get six tickets, worth 5 minutes each, for a total of 30 minutes. Poor behavior loses tickets. The tickets reset every day after they have been redeemed. So far it has been working really well!
Happy Summer!
We just made a little schedule for each day with special "free time" on it. Then we brainstormed a list of things they can do during free time. We really marketed it as a super cool time. One of the things they can do during free time is get out THE craft box. It is full of brand new stuff for the summer. An entire ream of paper, glue, fresh markers, glitter markers, stickers, new crayons and most importantly a box full of things to glue on... buttons, sequins, google eyes and any other craft extras. They are really excited for it. I'll report back if "free time" works according to plan. Oh, and I promised a new box of crayons and markers each month of summer - I'm really generous like that!
we got nothin good planned. :( i do want to start having a schedule though...it will help with when (home)school starts this fall. and i think i may torture my daughter with handwriting and reading practice each day. HEY! my mom did it to me!
I might buy this book soon that was written by a lady in my stake growing up. She has about 10 kids and they are all wonderful, talented human beings. Her book is called "So What Can Kids Do in the Summertime?"
http://deseretbook.org/item/5023996/So_What_Can_Kids_Do_in_the_Summertime_#description
Basically it comes down to the fact that you have 3 years of your kids with you 24 hours a day throughout their school careers. It's really about maximizing that time.
Personally I am looking forward to hanging out with old friends:) and really digging up all the free stuff I can find around town, mingled with some serious chores around the house and enjoying some flexibility with the schedule.
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