Ways to Get Organized for Summer Schedules

Comments Jun 2, 2011 | Get Organized for Summer Series, Kids, School, Summer, Vacation

First shared in May, 2011, this series was sparked by an appearance on My Carolina Today where we had more content than time ~ sounds pretty typical for a busy Mom! Our lives are tied to the seasons and I hope this series gets your summer moving in the right direction now!

Summer activities with your kids can be a bear if you don’t put a little fore thought into it. So I’m here to make sure you have everything you need to make that transition from full on school to days on end at home a seamless one and hopefully full of fun. Memorial Day Weekend is a great time to capture your family’s attention. I know this might not make sense but think about it! You are already in the have fun, recreation summer mood, going to the pool and maybe even going to the beach. So let me give a few tips about how you can get some more information from your family about what they want to do for the summer so you can get out ahead of the game:

1. Make a Summer Wish LIst: Give each child a piece of paper and tell them to write down 5 things they want to do this summer. And then get those things on the calendar. You’ve got three months ahead of you so there’s really no excuse for saying no we couldn’t fit that in. The last thing you want to do is come upon the weekend before school starts and hear your kids say “But I really wanted to go to the museums!” and you never made the effort to simply get downtown all summer long. Not good!

2. Make a Rainy Day Jar: Or hot weather day jar…or air alert day job…whatever you want to call it. The point of this jar is to inspire their creativity. So hand them a series of index cards and stickers and encourage them with prompts like “put on a play” “have a lemonade stand” “visit the library”. Whatever it is that they might want to do that is a little off beat to help inspire their creativity. What I find that my children love is that when they pull those cards out, they are their own ideas from the very start. So that’s a really important step and you’ll be amazed at how quickly this jar can nip any whining in the bud.

3. Block Your Vacation Days at Work: Make sure you have everything you have cleared with a modified work schedule and that you’ve notified everyone who might be involved. If you are taking a hiatus from a project or commitment, make sure that its cleared now before we turn the corner on June.

4. Block Scheduled Kids Activities: Remember, you still might be carting people around. In my house I will daily have swim team, tennis clinic, and baseball for my kids. That’s going to be some mileage so I need to block out those transportation times and we need to be working on a little carpool option to spread the love with family and friends.

5. Local CVB and Parenting Magazines: These resources both online or in print will always give you a wonderful listing of local events that you can keep in your back pocket for a surprise trip to a free concert in the park on Saturday night or something special that may be coming into town like a new exhibit at the art museum that is kid friendly. Tools like these sites and your local library can be your best friend in making sure that you are having a wonderful summer that feels like its full of spontaneity when really, you just made sure to cover your bases.

I hope taking extra care to focus on planning your summer days makes getting schedules organized before the kids get home a breeze. Tell me…

How do you plan for an organized summer full of activities for your kids?

Thanks for stopping by ~ we’ll see you next time!