Let me preface this post with the acknowledgement that I love my kids dearly. Seriously. I love spending time with them, I love having them around me and they bring me a great deal of joy.

However.

I’ve gotten used to this whole being-at-home-by-myself routine and I must say, I’m quite productive while the kids are at school.

And, darn it, I like having the whole [quiet] house to myself!

That’s why this year, for the first time, I’m actually dreading summer vacation a little bit (the last day of school is Friday already!).

Ever since I took this new job as Office Manager of a theological journal, I have many deadlines, some daily. It’s not a highly demanding job, for the most part, but it does require my undivided attention, sometimes for hours at a time.

The biggest disturbance is easily my sons, who are, as boys tend to be, rowdy, loud and usually all over each other. It feels like I’m constantly refereeing a wrestling match turned ugly or sending them to their rooms to cool down because they’re getting on each others’ nerves, especially on the weekends when they have whole chunks of time to bug each other.

I’ve come up with a combat plan to work out some sort of loose/flexible schedule for us all for this summer. This schedule will include daily, weekly, monthly and by-end-of-summer goals for everyone, and required daily activities, such as playing outside and doing age-appropriate chores.

Hopefully this plan will alleviate much of the “Mom, I don’t know what to do” commenting and keep them effectively occupied so I can get my work done during the time of the day I allot for that. This should also keep me more on-task.

All this is not to say that we won’t have a lot of fun because we will still have plenty of time for that. I will drag out our pop-up camper and let them use it as a playhouse and sleep outside under the stars. We’ll have campfires and roast marshmallows, read books, work in the garden together, play games, eat outside at the picnic table, go camping and swimming and biking.

I want to enjoy the time my kids are around and I think this is a good way to do it, while also helping them develop some skills and learn to be productive human beings. I’ll report back at a later date to let you know how it’s going.

Do you do anything different during summer vacation?

 

Tags: children, kids, parenting, schedules, school, setting goals, summer vacation