Summer Parenting Hacks

Parenting is hard work. Parenting well requires intention, understanding, and support. The summer months can bring its own set of challenges and opportunities to parenting. One common temptation to pack summers with endless “fun” and ongoing activity is a trap many well-meaning parents engage in. Consider the three areas as you navigate the season: friends, family, and their future.

Friends

With a traditional school year, meaningful connections with friends can be limited due to hectic schedules. The summer is a perfect opportunity to allow unscheduled, genuine free time with peers. Encourage and schedule unstructured get-togethers with your child and a friend. Perhaps they will happen spontaneously? Hooray for what you created in your community. While one’s home is an opportune space for more meaningful conversation due to minimal distractions, a water park or other location may help serve as a more neutral meeting space. Some families prefer public outings over intimate settings, so be open to offering either. Be mindful to avoid over-scheduling or, ongoing/weekly over-stimulation. Need a few ideas? Consider the following:

• Splash pad and picnic
• Skatepark with bikes, skates, and snacks
• Backyard campout
• Teenagers TV takeover (offer a late night hour that they can take over the TV)

Family

Family time is generally the gold for parents. It is often the reward for hard work and professional aspirations. Avoid the trap of putting aside family time to focus on a single week’s vacation. Family time can be simple. It yields a deeper connection with regular rhythms. The summer is the perfect time to find an easy way to gather and gab. That’s what you want with and for your children: you want them talking! To you! Invite and invest in it with routine and uninterrupted game nights, read-alouds, or even family chores. Here are a few additional suggestions:

• Weekly backyard barbecue
• Family pizza night with charades
• Charcuterie and cards
• Sprinklers, Slip ‘n Slide, & sparklers (most box chain stores sell them starting in June)
• Family Read aloud (here are two idea lists to get started)
• A week with grandparents (Whether you have to send the kiddos stocked with groceries and a few new toys and books, find a way for this to work.)

Future

The summer may offer more time for those important life skills like cleaning or cooking to be developed. Foster a family working together mentality through chores for each child. If they are typically in charge of one area, select a new area. For example, if one kiddo routinely unloads the dishwasher, have them learn to load and start the washing machine. It might be time for your teenage son to learn how to mow the lawn. He can do it! This does not have to be a life sentence, but remember your goal as a parent is to produce an independent, capable human into the world. Responsibility is a required skill. Still, new skills are best learned when there is space to make mistakes without the pressure of perfection. Sometimes the summer is the best season for grace while growing. Try for a week at a time, or a month at a time depending on the chore. Combine family time and future skills with shared chores like preparing dinner, setting, and clearing the table. Need more ideas?

• Pumping gas for the car
• Planning a meal
• Preparing dessert
• Caring for the family pet

Adapting a Cool Schedule for Kids

Have you found your summer schedule too hot to handle? Embrace the opportunity to demonstrate problem-solving and course correction. Talk openly (from a position of confidence for positive change) about the identified growth area. If possible, navigate a more simplified summer schedule with input from your children.

Summer months are about resting from a routine and regularly hectic school season. For the remaining summer weeks, resist the urge to maximize all hours of every day. In other words, forgo signing your child/ren into all the camps and activities you find of interest. Resist pressuring them into academic advancement. As much as possible, allow your sons and daughters to get bored over the summer, to read at leisure, and to connect at length and in depth. These ideas are offered in order for you to sift out what may be of most value for them. Focus on connecting them for one more summer. Remember you only have ___ more summers with them. Enjoy it!