Summer is here

Summer is here.  Both of my kids had their last day of school last week and now the summer schedule is upon us.

Today was our first day of summer break (after the long Memorial Day weekend) and we've started it out with a bang.  While I see moms on Facebook taking their kids to the museum to see the cool, latest kid-friendly exhibit, and other moms making their summer fun adventure lists, what did we do?  I had a colposcopy and took the kids grocery shopping.  What are we doing tomorrow?  We might go to a park, but we're definitely going to make a chain to count down the days until we head out to visit family for a week.

Ok, so I'm not just going to sit around the house and do nothing all summer.  But I'm also not going to  jam pack this summer with so much stuff that I am exhausted every single day.  I've signed up my oldest for 3 summer camps, one for each month of summer.  So, she'll be away during the day 1 week of each month, but home with us, the remaining 3 weeks.  I've also promised her that we would do three things this summer.  The first is to dig for worms in the back yard.  The second is to spend a morning at Kiddie Park.  The third is that we would go to the library once a week, all summer long.  None of those are very hard to accomplish, so I think we're good.  I also promised my son that we would go to the YMCA three times every week.  So, with all that, I think we'll be good.

I have crafts to do around the house (nothing too elaborate because with a 2 year old and a 5 year old, you have to keep it simple).  I have created them each a workout chart, because they really wanted one.  This requires that they each do something active every day of the summer.  This includes Kids in Motion at the YMCA and their gymnastics classes.  On the other days, we'll go for a jog around the neighborhood, or play the dancing game on the Xbox Kinect, or practice gymnastics, or go for a bike ride.  But, I don't want them sitting around doing crafts and being lazy all summer.  I am realistic though.  It looks like it is going to be a rainy, miserable summer (and even it if isn't rainy, this is Texas and it is hot), so we'll be inside a lot.

So, I'm not "super mom" making sure that every day has some activity to learn and have fun.  Some days we'll go to the YMCA and go grocery shopping.  Some days we won't even leave the house.  I'm not promising too much, so my kids won't get upset.  But, we're going to have fun and enjoy each other's company, because that is most important (at least to me who is losing my little girl to kindergarten next year).