1. Stock the snacks
Summer = snacks. For your own kids and for whoever else shows up at your door and we want them to show up—please, encourage them to come! You want to know allllllll the friends!
You don’t have to have video games, or a playroom stocked with games to keep everyone busy – all you need is a wide open backyard for wiffle ball, football, gymnastics routines, a fire pit, and snacks.
2. Clean the kids’ rooms
Sounds like something they should do themselves, but hear us out. We don’t recommend that you normally deep-clean their rooms – we do suggest you try the “basket trick” (where everything out of place gets tossed in a bin and they have to sort it >> read about it here) but before summer, go in, do a full refresh, and make sure everything has a place (and lots of things get tossed and donated).
Why?
Because then when you ask them to go straighten their room mid-summer, they’re starting from a place of order. it feels easier, so they are less likely to complain, and they can get it done faster. This is especially true if you have any ADHD kids in your home; a big mess is a task they can’t manage. The goal is that you want them to enjoy that outdoor sunshine time too; not “stuck” overwhelmed in their room!
3. Make the summer list
Ask each kid to tell me the top 3 things they want to do this summer, then do your best to make one or two of those things happen.
It helps you to say “yes” to what matters and “no” to the 47 random extras that pop up every week. The goal is to actually enjoy summer, not just cram it full of stuff.
Taken from erin @ “Notice the Little Things”
