Mom-guilt. It is a wonderful thing, isn't it? Okay, not so much. It sucks. And it tends to happen to a lot of us during the summer.
We want to make the little time we have every summer memorable. In theory, summers are the perfect time for this. However, our work still needs to get done, the laundry isn't going to fold itself, the skies seem to be enjoying dumping buckets of rain almost daily, and the bank isn't bottomless. The kids, however, are still begging to do something fun. Thus the mom-guilt.
We need to get over it. Seriously. Our kids will be just fine learning to entertain themselves. There is even an article in this newsletter on making a "boredom buster jar". I have found that my kids actually get along better after spending some time together. Invite a friend or two over and have them go in the backyard to play so you can still get some work done. Just stop feeling guilty. You can't spend every single hour of every single day of the summer with your kids. Which is great because then when you can take a vacation or go do something fun it will be that much more special to them.
Take baby steps. One day each week, plan the week or month. Let your kids know which days you will be going on a fun summer outing. Do not break these days, keep them in pen on the calendar. Make it realistic in terms of what you can do and time you can spend.
Do little things that matter. Take a bike ride to the ice cream store when it cools down in the evening. Take a walk to the park after the housework is done. Make a picnic lunch for the backyard. It doesn't have to be a huge activity that costs money to be fun.
Another thing we do in our family has helped my mom-guilt a bit is unplugged trips. We make sure we have at least 2 camping trips, one cabin trip, and one special mini-trip each year. During those vacations electronics and work ARE NOT ALLOWED. My kids have 100% of my time and attention. The way we see it, they appreciate that much more than me lugging them to the pool each day and working on my laptop.
Whatever you do, in whatever time you have to do it, be sure to enjoy it. Put your phone down and focus on those kiddo's. They will be so much bigger next year!
Have a wonderful and memory-filled week!
Vicki
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