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| If I just let my daughter scarf down Nutella like this, can she stay on her ADHD meds this summer? |
I always hear moms groaning about summer break, and honestly, I don't get it. Sure, I'm a tad
But overall, I love Summer Break. I love having my kids home with me. I love not having the homework anxiety, the testing anxiety, the "are we going to be late?" anxiety. I love shutting off the alarm clock, easing up on bedtime, and hanging out with friends. Also, I'm pretty sure that I love not having homework even more than my kids love not having homework. I mean, they only do one batch of homework each. I sit there with each kid, trying to keep them focused and tear-free as they slog through long division and present perfect verbs.
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| See? The happy face indicates that feet moisturizing is a fun, child-friendly activity. |
Sure, we'll work on a little bit of school-related stuff. Otherwise all the math falls out of their heads over the summer, and in September they're like, "what plus what now?" Normally I buy one of those "summer bridge" workbooks for each kid, but this year our school district handed out a big fat packet of summer schoolwork for free. Sweet. Of course, they made the mistake of giving the Peanut Butter Kid her packet last week, so she's almost done with it. Maybe she can start earning money by doing other kids' packets for them; you're never too young for a summer job.
I guess one of the things that some moms worry about is that their kids will get bored. I would like to refer those moms back to My Excellent Advice to a Bored Child. I can guarantee that if you make suggestions like "assuming you're done with your summer schoolwork, you can moisturize my feet," your kid will stop telling you she's bored. Unless your kid likes to moisturize your feet. In which case, win-win.
I'm pretty sure I'll have well-moistened feet by September. School gets out for us next week, and this year, I'm only half-dreading it.
ReplyDeleteSomeone hold me.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you...I love summer break...I'm pretty sure it has to do with my laziness. We go from well structured and organized (which is REALLY hard for me) to falling asleep on the floor while watching movies and making breakfast at 10 when the kids start wanting real food instead of whatever snack they find before hand....I love summer......
ReplyDeleteO my goodness! That picture of the face on the feet is GREAT!
ReplyDeleteI just want to say I find it completely refreshing that you WANT your kids home for the summer. I am so tired of parents who are complaining about what they will do with the kids over the summer. It is hard for me to listen to the complaints. I love hanging out with my kids, they are awesome people.
My kids aren't old enough for school yet, so I don't know anything about the whole summer break thing. I think I see where parents are coming from for summer break - most kids do better on a schedule. But if the parents aren't great with schedules, that may cause extra insanity.
ReplyDeleteYou can also add to the list of things they can do if they are bored - like weed the garden (one of the favorites for my parents to suggest to us).
This is the first year that my son is on summer break after being in preschool. We are all looking forward to it! Relaxed schedules, spending more time together, camp outs in the yard, what's not to love! Kudos to another mom who loves spending summer with her kids!
ReplyDeleteNope, not with you on this one at all. I'm crushed we don't get summer school (she would have to show regression this summer in order to get summer school next year). We are devastated without our routine. It's all that holds this precarious house of cards together. Unstructured time is excruciating for us. Plus, I'm a single parent, so school is my only time to do food shopping, make important calls, do things that involve waiting in lines, etc. And it's a few blessed hours a day she can follow a teacher around screaming and/or repeating the same thing over and over--instead of me. Summer is DOOM. Lord help me.
ReplyDeleteI love having my oldest home for the summer. My youngest is only 2.5, so she's home with me all the time...LOL. I bought a Summer Bridge Activity book too. I wonder if I should be worried that she's ASKING to do homework! LOL! But, we've got a pretty good balance on our summer schedule. I'm looking forward to it too! Have fun!!
ReplyDeleteI am so in the middle of this, on the fence of love/hate. I personally love relaxed, unstructured loosey-goosey summertime, but it doesn't work for us. We live in apartment in NYC, so to go outside for even a minute = an expedition (inc. PACKING), not just opening the door and stepping out.
ReplyDeleteAnd then there's the fact that my children do not get along at all right now, and so being alone with just the 2 of them and doing things is NOT an option unless I want to spend my time in a war zone (I don't). So I have to send the non-autistic one off with friends constantly. I love his company, but he's the one who can go off to playdates, and his autistic talks-non-stop-exhausting-to-be-with brother can't. Sigh.
So I thank goodness for Jake's 6 week summer school program, and send Ethan to day camp in July (because in NYC everyone goes & he would have absolutely no-one to play with if he didn't). I wish it was otherwise, but here it is: our life.
I like summer break, too. I love the relaxed bedtimes and lazy mornings. Unfortunately, I hate the crazy summer heat.
ReplyDeleteMy go, go, go child is signed up for camps and classes. My let's stay home child will be hanging out with me. I think it's going to be a GREAT summer as soon as the 7 YO potty trains.......
ReplyDeleteI'm afraid to tempt fate, but I'm loving summer so far! My little guy has mostly kept himself busy geeking, but we're also taking him out for gym trips, playing catch and so on. It's nice to have so much time with him; I feel like I barely see him on school days.
ReplyDeleteWe've lowered his medication twice so far with no apparent ill-effects. I would so love it if he could spend some time completely off it this summer. I would love it even more if he's outgrown the need for it.