5 Tips to get your kids prepared for summer
Hey! Welcome back to moms at work! As I sit here and record today this is my last full week of no kids at home. So they are all at school. And next week summer will officially be behind in the Tapley household. Please give me some grace and extra tissues because this is also the end of an era.
We will no longer have an elementary school student. It feels so weird to think about. But our big boys Zeke and Titus will both be in high school and Zoe will start her first year of middle school. And now saying that I realize I need MORE than extra tissues but also your thoughts and prayers!
Today I wanted to chat with you about summer prep. How can we as busy, working moms prep our kids for summer, and then next week I am going to get you 3-5 tips on prepping yourself, spoiler alert it has nothing to do with getting “swim suit” ready!
So how can we prep our kids?!
Lean into a schedule
Not in a DO THIS OR FAIL ting but set up daily rhythms. We are a slow-moving family in the mornings so leaning into that I am going to tell my kids to do a devotional first thing. No screens or devices until they have spent some time with Jesus.
I am going to have them, so do a daily chore and then they can have screens for a while.
The daily things I want them doing are this…and I really had to think about this, like what would make me not crazy, what would help them feel pulled together, and what can I say up for them so they don’t ask me questions all-day
Time with Jesus, just normal hygiene like teeth and showers, a workout or walking the dogs, 20 min daily reading,
But here is the thing when I start looking at these types of schedules I tend to go overboard. And that’s not the goal here.
I just want to give my kids guidelines. I want them to see what is expected so they can roll with it in that aspect.
So how will we do this? I will set up a schedule and post it to the fridge.
It will be super basic and probably not super time constrictive since they each have their own schedules this summer. With work, summer camps, and lives I just want to support their time and in turn, teach them to support mine.
Prep the kitchen
We already have a 1 snack rule. Meaning if there are chips in the pantry they get one (single size) bag of chips a day. Now my middle kiddo has found the workaround that he knows he can have one of every snack we have in the house. I don’t love it but I respect the hustle!
The thing I am going to prep this summer is having better options. From portioned-out nuts to rice cakes (my kids actually love these) to loads of fruit chopped and ready I just want them to be able to grab a snack. I don’t want them to ask me questions. My goal is to take the asking or questioning out.
Same with lunches. I want them to be able to make their lunch without my help or needing me so that means I will just be prepping lunch food on Sundays. I am going to bring Zoe in on this with me. She is the one kid that will be home more this summer so I want to give her ownership in this way.
Tell them when its time for play and time for work
You would think they would know but hey, they are kids. So if your kids are little maybe use a red block or some sort of signal that shows them. Mom is working. My kids know if my office door is shut, I am deep in work or recording and they should enter at their own risk
I know with little you can close yourself off but maybe visuals will help them and they can stop, and reassess.
Camps, VBS, Playdates
We are big camp people! I think camps are a great way to have your kids entertained and busy in the summer. I know that it can get spendy but I would look up different VBS around town, and local park camps, I would even see if there are teens in your neighborhood that are looking to make some money and encourage them to start a camp or babysit club.
Getting the kids worn out and around others is KEY! And if camps aren’t a great option then maybe setting up playdates where you and a friend trade off days!
Ask for help
Maybe it’s a neighbor, a friend, or a young teen down the road, Ask for help. Have the kids do some chores, ask your husband t do dinner 1-2 nights a week, and maybe make Wednesday leftover nights and Friday Pizza night. Take stuff off your plate by lightening your load some!
One thing I just did to prep my brain for our summer is I printed out a blank calendar and I filled it in with everything we have going on, Kids camps, schedules, work plans, jesses schedules trips, and deadlines. ALL OF IT. For some people, I get how it could be WILDLY overwhelming. But for me, I needed to see it all so I knew when I needed to ask for help.
The things I will need to ask for help with are, Zoe being entertained some, a ride to and from work for the boys, the to and from the shuffle of the gym, and morning running practice for the boys, and honestly, a lot of this get solved late this summer when our oldest starts driving but guys I am not ready but I am….its’s confusing, again I need those thoughts and prayers
What I was saying is… I know that these are things I will need help with. I will have to ask if Jesse is around he will definitely pick up that slack, but if he’s not, I will ask my mother-in-law or my friends around me to help. I am so thankful for those around me that helped me and I want to remind you that if you can offer help DO SO!! Last summer i took Zeke and his buddy to practice every day and his friends mom brought them home so i could start working! It was a greattrade off!
Make those deals!
Ok lets recap!
Lean into a rhythms not scheules
Set up a light schedule for your kids, dont plan every minute because you will fail andwhen that happens you will want to quit everything! Thats not what we want! We want to eliminate the questions, to foster boredom and to help our kids play!
Prep the kitchen!
Give your kids ready to grab snacks that they can grab and go. Again no questions just snack! You know they are hungerier than ever in the summer!! So just have the stuff prepped and ready for them, maybe even have a specifcic spot in the fridge that is their yes food. They can just grab it straight from their no asking! 1 per day. Imagine how big they might feel!!
Give them a visual sign for when you are working
If you cant be interrupted show them what to do or give them a game plan. Use a block, sign or shut door! Help them help you! If you work from an office, i used to call my mom ALL the time and she would get so mad! Now i am SHOCKED that she was never fired for that! But maybe give them a specific check in time!
Camps, vbs, playdates
What can you sign your kids up for?! They’ll love it and you will too!!
How can you play tradies with your friends?
Be prepared to ask for help!
From your kids, husband, parents, neighbors! Just ask! Its ok! Remember we cannot do it all! We can manage our homes really well, but we cannot do all the things!
Ok last but not least i want to encourage you to have some fun.
Leave the office a little early, dont break any rules but do what you can! Go to the park, or to the splash pad. We dont want to just survive the summer with our kids but we want to make some memories!
Buy a polaroid camera! Leave your phone in your purse so you arent tempted to scroll.
Have ice cream for dinner and dinner for dessert! Be wild!
Have fun! Ok next week i will be right here with you giving YOU tips on getting YOU ready for summer!
I would love to hear more from you! you can email me at itstimeforcoffeepodcast@gmail.com. Click here if you want to join the email community!
