I'm not doing the summer lists.
I may regret this but I'm gonna write it anyway. Maybe I'm writing it to assuage my guilt....or maybe there is another voice that should be heard. Either way, here goes.
There are lots of good ideas circulating that make lists for how to manage summer vacation with children.. These lists tell our children what they need to accomplish before they can play, or watch tv or whatever.....and they cover all of the things that make us well-rounded. Read. Play outside. Clean. Be creative with arts and crafts.....prove that you can do these good works and then you may relax for a bit. Reading programs that bribe us with prizes and awards if we read so many words or pages or chapters or books......and these are all great ideas. They are!
Maybe they are not so great for me....or maybe even for my tribe. Every year we sign up for the local reading program in the summer and we never ever complete it. Sign up is Monday. I will be there with pen in hand, I promise. I have never been goal-oriented, bribable or prone to rewards. If I set a goal it is internally motivated and if I achieve it it is personal. I know my responsibilities and I know how to treat myself and do self care. Since this is "My Normal," I think I will practice modelling and teaching these things to my kids this summer and not make lists they need to check off before they can relax.
Ironically I did make a list today. I had many things I didn't want to forget to do today, so I wrote them out.....and at least 3 of my 5 kids helped me cross some of the things off today by doing those tasks.....and the remainder can wait til tomorrow. That's right. I will sleep just fine without completing my list. I have a Netflix series on the TV that I am watching, and I have my laptop open blogging and my phone is playing lullabies so that Precious can get to sleep....all of my devices are on and my list has not been completed and it. is. fine. I did plenty today. Plenty.
Feel free, my friends who have kids home for summer, to make your lists and to manage your children's days. Feel free to teach them to be responsible and helpful and not give way to hours and hours and hours of netflix binging or xbox marathons or whatever......may your children become great and productive and purposeful. Here in this home, we may have a few netflix binges and xbox marathons.....and lazy days where we accomplish absolutely nothing. We may not finish even one book. We may or we may not....but if we do I sure do hope it is because we wanted to and not because we have to. Lord, help me learn how to make them want to and not have to......in all things.
Tomorrow there will be things that need to happen and when I have an able person before me, I will ask him or her to do the task. If we are without a next thing, I will invite a little person to sit with me and read a book, or gently suggest to my teens that maybe they should start something new. Claire's first day of summer break she read an entire novel start to finish. I'd say she has a pass for a bit. We sit at baseball, we play with our dogs. We splash in the pool and relax in the hot tub and we scoop poop and mow the lawn and do laundry. We do stuff. We go to the park and help our littles learn to ride bikes and we walk our dogs......we bake and we grill and we roast marshmallows on the bonfire....and summer is grand.
So all of you daily chore list people....live well and prosper. I'm not doing it. At least not this summer.
There are lots of good ideas circulating that make lists for how to manage summer vacation with children.. These lists tell our children what they need to accomplish before they can play, or watch tv or whatever.....and they cover all of the things that make us well-rounded. Read. Play outside. Clean. Be creative with arts and crafts.....prove that you can do these good works and then you may relax for a bit. Reading programs that bribe us with prizes and awards if we read so many words or pages or chapters or books......and these are all great ideas. They are!
Maybe they are not so great for me....or maybe even for my tribe. Every year we sign up for the local reading program in the summer and we never ever complete it. Sign up is Monday. I will be there with pen in hand, I promise. I have never been goal-oriented, bribable or prone to rewards. If I set a goal it is internally motivated and if I achieve it it is personal. I know my responsibilities and I know how to treat myself and do self care. Since this is "My Normal," I think I will practice modelling and teaching these things to my kids this summer and not make lists they need to check off before they can relax.
Ironically I did make a list today. I had many things I didn't want to forget to do today, so I wrote them out.....and at least 3 of my 5 kids helped me cross some of the things off today by doing those tasks.....and the remainder can wait til tomorrow. That's right. I will sleep just fine without completing my list. I have a Netflix series on the TV that I am watching, and I have my laptop open blogging and my phone is playing lullabies so that Precious can get to sleep....all of my devices are on and my list has not been completed and it. is. fine. I did plenty today. Plenty.
Feel free, my friends who have kids home for summer, to make your lists and to manage your children's days. Feel free to teach them to be responsible and helpful and not give way to hours and hours and hours of netflix binging or xbox marathons or whatever......may your children become great and productive and purposeful. Here in this home, we may have a few netflix binges and xbox marathons.....and lazy days where we accomplish absolutely nothing. We may not finish even one book. We may or we may not....but if we do I sure do hope it is because we wanted to and not because we have to. Lord, help me learn how to make them want to and not have to......in all things.
Tomorrow there will be things that need to happen and when I have an able person before me, I will ask him or her to do the task. If we are without a next thing, I will invite a little person to sit with me and read a book, or gently suggest to my teens that maybe they should start something new. Claire's first day of summer break she read an entire novel start to finish. I'd say she has a pass for a bit. We sit at baseball, we play with our dogs. We splash in the pool and relax in the hot tub and we scoop poop and mow the lawn and do laundry. We do stuff. We go to the park and help our littles learn to ride bikes and we walk our dogs......we bake and we grill and we roast marshmallows on the bonfire....and summer is grand.
So all of you daily chore list people....live well and prosper. I'm not doing it. At least not this summer.
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