Schools Out!

I've been dreading summer for the last few months. I love the kids but hate all the fighting and begging to play the computer all day. I changed my attitude just in the nick of time though (from listening to Dr. Laura's book Stop Whining, Start Living book) and started looking forward to summer. I talked to one woman who helped me realize that I don't have to provide the entire summer entertainment. I never really provide great entertainment but just feeling like I should is exhausting. So before school got out we had the kids come up with a personal list of things they would do when they feel bored. We also initiated a summer rule: if you say, "I'm bored" or anything like unto it, you will be given a job to do. So far so good--its been 3 whole days.

One other thing that's hard for me about summer is the lack of schedule. Some people love this I know but I don't work well without some kind of structure. So here's this summers routine. Before playing or doing anything fun you must first:

Clean your room

Do 3 jobs--assigned by mom

Practice piano for 30 minutes

Read 1 hour

Write in your journal (yesterdays topic was "if you were an inventor what would you invent")

Math flashcards/written math drills

New chart made from tiny envelopes I picked up at the dollar store. Each child has a different color strip they place in envelopes when finished

This way we get the house peacefully clean and all the other naggable items have been taken care of.

After the work is done then the kids can play their 15 minutes of computer and use the rest of the day to do whatever they can think of.


The other summer idea that the kids are really excited about is cooking. The three oldest kids each have a day of the week to plan and prepare 3 meals with my help. Its so great to have kids to do at least half of the work.