When your kids are home from school for summer vacation, it’s both exciting and exhausting. You can do away with your everyday schedules, you won’t have to hear your child complain for a few months about school, and you get to enjoy some quality time together. However, summer also means you and your kids are around each other all day every day, and that can take a toll on you as a parent—especially since your other daily responsibilities don’t go away just because it’s summertime. So if you’re looking for ways to make your summer easier with kids, then here are five ways you can do just that.
- Get help.
Being a good parent doesn’t mean tackling everything yourself until you run yourself ragged. If you are taking on too much, feel free to ask for help. This can be anything from asking someone to watch your kids for an hour a day, to hiring someone to clean your home, to using a meal plan service for dinners. No matter what it is you need help with, know that asking for help doesn’t make you less of a parent—it simply makes you a smarter one.
- Teach your kids about safety.
The summer months allow you and your children to play more freely, but if you want to lessen a tiny bit of your worry, it’s important to teach your kids about safety. For instance, make sure your children know how to handle strangers, especially if your children will be spending time in a public place without you (such as a park). In addition, make sure to talk with your children about water safety. According to Manning Pool Service, a pool cleaning company in Houston, TX, “Teaching children about water safety at an early age is one of the most responsible things a parent can do for their children, but you should still keep an eye on them in the pool, no matter how good of a swimmer they may be.”
- Keep it simple.
Just because it’s summertime doesn’t mean you need to jam-pack your child’s summer with all these amazing activities and events. Doing so will not only be pretty expensive, but it will also make it hard on you to keep everything organized. Instead, consider all the family activities you can enjoy at home. From having a backyard campout to having an indoor scavenger hunt, there are plenty of ways you can enjoy quality time with your kids, ensure they’re having fun, and still keep everyone at home.
- Stick to a schedule.
Even though you no longer have the rigid schedule of school hanging over your head, it’s still a good idea to have some sort of schedule in place during the summer months. This not only helps you stay organized with what you want to do and get accomplished every day, but it also ensures your children still understand how to follow a schedule so it’s not a big surprise when school starts again. Find out what exactly it is you want to do every day during the summer, such as have a designated reading time, designated “no electronics” time, designated lunchtime, etc., and then plan it out. While it may seem like a lot of work upfront, it will be worth it in the end.
- Create a rewards system.
Having a rewards system in place for your kids during the summer can help ensure they still behave appropriately while being able to have fun. You can decide what type of rewards system works best for you and your family, but some ideas include:
- Sticker system: After so many stickers for good behavior, your children get some type of reward
- Bucket list: Write out all the things you want to do, and every week—assuming your children have been good—you get to check something off that bucket list
There are a variety of ways to reward your children, so do some research or think about what makes the most sense for your household, and then use that as an incentive to keep things running smoothly during the summer months.
Summer is meant to be a fun time with you and your children, and while it may seem chaotic at first, using these tips will help ensure you have a well-oiled machine taking place in your household—while still allowing for plenty of fun and memories to be created.
