SCHOOL'S OUT FOR SUMMER!

This is something that I know we all remember. That feeling of school getting out for Summer vacation. Cleaning out your desk. Getting your report card. Walking the now sparse walls of a crowded hallway. Thanking your teachers for hopefully a great year. Saying good-bye to friends. The excitement as the bell rings and YOUR FREE!

I literally am over the moon excited for Summer Break! I am as I said before a little nervous. But my kids I think can pull it out. A great summer that is. I have kid cooking days I am planning. Bike rides we'll do. Art projects that need organizing and what I am calling my Get Outside and Into Nature project. I want them to get on a chore schedule, so it isn't just me cleaning up after everyone. I know there will be days where I am going crazy, but I truly believe that Summer will be awesome!

I think New Years Resolutions set us up to fail. I can barely commit to what I'm going to eat for lunch, let alone a years worth of grandiose goals. I have decided to break my resolutions into seasons. This New Years my goal was to start exercising more. Without being too specific, I did that. Spring Resolution was to get organized around my house. Clean out closets and drawers, even those I tried to forget about. Done. So this is my Summer Resolution: It's a kind of a Step program

Step #1 Get organized.
I am sure there are some super organized amongst you that this does not phase, but I HATE BAGS! If you have elementary school kids especially, you feel my pain. The day or two before school gets out they come home with every scrap of paper, broken crayon and dried out marker in a dilapidated box, that you are convinced couldn't be the same pristine one you sent in September. They have bags full of their notebooks, art projects and if you are REALLY lucky a long forgotten lunch box or moldy water bottle. Funny you looked for months mid year for that one and NOW it shows up! SUPER! Anyways my goal is to get all their special papers saved in a box and saveable supplies put aside for summer art. Clean out my Mud Room is also on the top of my list. Pretty sure we have snow coats and 40 pairs of shoes in there we don't need.

Step #2 Chore Schedule
I just had the conversation with my kids last night. "Mom please read to me before bed, please play this game with me, etc." Believe me I would much rather be reading stories and snuggling them or playing with them, rather then washing dishes, cleaning the kitchen, folding laundry etc. But those things unfortunately have to get done, which means unfortunately I miss out sometimes on things that I would love to be doing instead. Sadly it makes me feel sad and guilty for choosing the chores and them sad and mad that I am choosing the chores. It's a lose lose. On the flip side though. A win win is in the works. "If" I say "I have help with these chores, they get done more quickly, leaving more time for fun for you and me" "Oh" Delaney says. "That makes sense" she says with a look on her face like it literally has never crossed her mind, these two things went together. She is 7 so I should give her more credit. I'm just glad it seems to be making sense now. It is in a big way it's my fault things are how they are. There are many times where, I could use a peaceful minute and the thought of micro managing them through a chore seems too daunting. Those are the times when I say "Oh it's fine, just go outside and play, or just go watch your show downstairs, I'll do it." NO MORE! We are a team, and we are going to start acting like one. What's that saying...."There is no I in team!" :) Notice there is no I in MOM either :)

Step #3 TV/Video Game/Computer BLACKOUT!
I am very close to cancelling cable for the summer. It isn't that my kids watch a ton of t.v. but I just don't even want it to be an option. I also am banning video games and the computer for the daylight hours. If it is a rainy, crappy day obviously I will adjust the rules.
Just for the most part...This segues well into...

Step #4 Get OUTSIDE and INTO nature:
We are outside a lot and we are very lucky to live in a pretty wooded area, but even if we didn't I would still be on a mission to get outside, even more then we already are. When we were little my sisters and I were outside from the moment Mickey Mouse Club was over :) until we HAD to come in fro dinner. All summer we played in the trees, made houses, rode bikes (pretending they were our cars) Had forts and whatever else we could imagine. My kids will do that, but sometimes it takes more convincing to get them out there, then I'd like to admit.

I have been reading a book called Last Child in the Woods- Saving our children from nature deficit disorder by: Richard Louv. It is mind blowing in a way that makes me kind of sad, but also gives me hope. By initiating what he calls a Nature-Child Reunion we can start to reverse the effects of their time away from it. He gives ideas and makes me feel excited to get outside! And just think once we get our own kids outside, they'll tell their friends and it will spread like a revolution! I can feel the effects that technology has on our kids and I think it is time that we use it to nurture a love of nature. Yes Keegan, you can get on the computer to Google the life expectancy of a brown chipmunk. As I get more organized (step #1:) I will be posting activities and such to do with your kids outside. But if you haven't yet checked out that book. DO! It will bring perspective and hope to this situation.

Step#5 HAVE FUN!
I am fully prepared to blow off a load of laundry to go on a walk. Not clean up the toys so we can go play flashlight tag and bend the rules in order to enjoy my day more. If the kids want to play in the baby pool all day, then whats a mom to do but sit outside and watch them ALL DAY :) I hope I can stay on top of my business enough to really do this. And really enjoy it. Stay tuned for how it really goes. I want summer to feel like it's lasting forever, like it did when I was a kid.

HAPPY SUMMER EVERYONE!
And Moms...May the force be with you :)