Happy Wednesday, Friends.
And happy smokin’ hot summer days! At least, if you live in my neck of the woods. I am soaking up every last drop of this summer. It has been tremendous not only in terms of what we’ve been doing but also in terms of weather. And before anyone makes a smart crack about the humidity, I just want to remind you of this:
SERIOUSLY. THIS. ^^^^^. Don’t even try to convince me that six feet of snow and five layers of clothing is better. Because it just isn’t. Actually, I take that back. I love winter up until Christmas. And then it just goes downhill from there all the way through late March. Verdict? Summer. Longer days, warm nights, sun-kissed tans, no parkas. Verdict? Summer.
I find it fascinating that I live in a part of the world that goes from -35°C in February to +35°C in July. Five months ago I could walk across the lake at our cottage and now I can comfortably swim across it.
Mind blown.
Speaking of comfortably swimming in a lake and returning to the point of this blog post, I’ve rather been enjoying the slower pace we chose this year. We made the conscious choice to avoid scheduling much during July and August. I read an incredible article this spring that inspired me to schedule less but not necessarily do less. In fact, we’ve been pretty busy. We just choose our busy-ness as we go. Based on the whim and fancy of what we want to do that day.
Want to build a fort? Sure!
Want to play Scrabble? You bet!
Want to play tag in the sprinkler? Last one in their bathing suit is IT!
The kids are in two separate weeks of day camps (one in July and one in August) but other than that, there is nothing. No organized sports. Few play dates. No “bucket lists”. Just inspired by what the day brings and what we feel like doing. We’ve accomplished a lot.
I’ll be honest that in the beginning the thought of it seemed daunting. Nine whole weeks of unscheduled open-ness? I thought for sure I would crack….and I fully admit to enjoying a white wine spritzer in the afternoons on the back porch as the kids run around {virtual fist bumps for the spritzer!}. There are days the kids get bored and I had to be okay with that. I also had to be okay with not filling that time for them. I asked them to come up with their own activities and most times they do without *too* much complaining.
Here are a few ideas for those families looking to do less yet connect more in August. Most of these activities cost little to no money and require little to no preparation in advance.
- Build a fort (inside or outside)
- Take a hike
- Read a book (we love Chronicles of Narnia and are taking a few weeks – if not months – to finish it as a family)
- Paint rocks
- Garden
- Go geo-caching
- Count stars at night
- Go to a drive in movie
- Catch bugs
- Go swimming in a lake or a river or the beach
- Run in the sprinkler
- Blow bubbles
- Watch clouds float in the sky
- Make a scavenger hunt in your backyard
- Climb a tree (and please, get up there with them! It’s fun!)
- Play board games (we even made our own)
- Go to the library
- Make homemade popsicles
- Make paper mache
- Lemonade stand
- Go fishing
- Do yoga in your backyard
- Go on a picnic
- Be a tourist in your hometown
- Go on a day trip and let the kids decide when & where to turn (see where they take you!)
- Hit up a provincial/state park
- Make homemade ice cream
The ideas are simple and endless. And thoroughly enjoyable. And most importantly, we’ve found that we are seriously connecting with our kids more. Sure, they still watch a movie here and there. And my iPhone isn’t always turned off (how else do I share the photos of our fun but by posting them to Instagram!). But I do find that we’re having more fun than we have in past summers.
AND with five more weeks of summer left, I’m looking for other ideas too – would love to hear about what you’re doing with your kids over the hotter months!
dr andrea ryan 