The Change Of Seasons | Summer Rhythms
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Ah summer, you are so very delicious.
You start slowly around here and as you ripen you provide lots of joy and light and opportunities for connection. Thank you for reliably coming around again.
As we dip our toes into summer around here I've been spending a bit of time thinking about how I'd like to experience the next few months.
I want to live the length and the width of my life. (referencing this quote from Diane Ackerman)
Some people talk about surviving summer. My approach is this: how can I really be present during the summer? How can I take advantage of the things that are really special and unique to this season like longer daylight hours, fresh foods, kids out of school, etc? I want my kids to grow up knowing the deliciousness of summer.
Life is so different during these months of the year - I want to give myself the gift of full participating in and enjoying the next couple of months.
Here's some things I'm hoping for myself for this summer:
Eat lunch outside. Get away from my desk and into the light.
Work smarter to finish up what I need to earlier in the day to open up more family time in the afternoon and evening. This is the biggest challenge for me and also the biggest reward. If I'm here a bit less know that it's because I'm living up to what I set out to do this summer - live the length and the width of it.
Handwritten notes. Build in time for writing notes - to grandparents, to friends, people who have done something nice.
Support Chris on his quest to master the BBQ (maybe "become proficient" is a better term than master).
Help Simon learn to ride his bike. He was doing fine with training wheels but once they came off it became a lot scarier to him.
Generally go slower. Ride my bike (loved how we did that for date night last week). Go to the pool. Sip instead of gulp.
Instill a sense of love and wonder in my kids about the outdoors. Go on hikes. Take walks around the neighborhood. Camp. Be outside in the evening. Lay in the grass and look up at the sky (Simon is awesome at that).
Keep up the garden not out of a sense of obligation but of love. The veggies are coming along great. The sweet peas are amazing. The sunflowers are waist high.
A few weeks ago I also mentioned that we were turning off the TV for the summer. We are following through with that and have found what seems to be working for us: no TV or computer movies during the day with one movie at night as an option depending on the plan for the evening.
So far that's been going okay. Except for that time last weekend when I was out for a bit and Simon & Anna carried my laptop upstairs into Simon's room, closed the door and proceeded to start watching Dora after Chris had reminded them about no TV/computer. Not good...but I do kinda love that they are developing that special sibling bond.
Really what it takes is a bit of planning on our part to have suggestions and ideas for them when they start getting bored and start asking to watch a movie. Here's the list of activities and options (that I'm going to make into a printed list that I can tell Simon to go check out) that I'm encouraging:
Legos.
Swimming.
Letter writing. I've got a list of people they can write notes to - family and friends and a pen-pal that Simon is overdue on writing back.
Go outside. Mess around. Turn on the sprinkler. Climb a tree. Chase each other around. Jump on the mini-trampolines
Workbooks. These can be puzzle books like dot to dot or word searches or some other academic workbook. Something quiet, at the table, that engages a different part of the brain for a bit.
Read.
Play cars on the front porch.
Color or paint or draw or make a treasure map.
A trip to the library. Or maybe play library with the bunches of books we have here.
I know I'll think of other things as soon as I hit publish.
In our living room we've got a closet on the other side of our couch that holds games, books, a couple baskets of Anna-sized toys, some legos, etc. I'm using that as a command center with baskets for the different themes (one holds workbooks, one holds art supplies, etc) which makes them easy to grab. Getting that set up is in progress - I need to take some time later today to remove the toys that are now too little and add them to our donation pile.
Have you thought about what you'd like to see for yourself or your family this summer? Do you have a list of activities for your kids when they start getting antsy?
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re: simon riding bike. you can take off the pedals on his bike and then he can "scooter" around, lifting his feet up and balancing. Do this for a few days to a couple of weeks and his sense of balance on the bike will be superb. Then after he masters that , go out and buy one of those balance bikes for Anna and never do the training wheels for her and you will see how much better it is than training wheels. I have done both ways, training wheels are not the easiest method.
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Backyard campout and learning how to play classic outdoor games is on our list this summer. Croquet and ladder ball will be learned over the holiday weekend while we visit grandparents. Have a wonderful, lazy summer.
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Hi Ali,
Great list! Another idea is to move Anna's play kitchen outside onto the porch and let her play house outside. We also make sheet tents outside, hanging over our clothesline (really just a long line strung up in the yard) and it provides a great place to chill out with a book outside. Good on you for sticking to the no TV rule. Hope you have a great summer.
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If your area parks participate in it..they offer what is call a geocaching adventure. You have a teasure hunt using GPS and clues listed on your state conservation web site. It is a a great way to explore and see nature and the kids love finding the "treasures" that are hidden. It would be a great way to have the whole family involved in a totally free and fun activity. Participants hide objects to be found by others with the aid of a GPS unit. The latitude and longitute coordinates of the geo cache are posted online along with additional clues. By typing in the coordinate in to a GPS device, you are lead to the "hidden treasures". Fun fun fun. Even state parks have listed activites for families to do and there is a stamp book that the kids get stamped as they complete the activities. So many wonderful things offered for the summer.
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Hi Ali, I love that you know exactly what you want to experience this summer. My kids are just finishing up school today for the summer (we live in Canada) and they are so excited to have some time off. I also love the list you made of suggestions for entertainment when the inevitable chants of "I'm bored" start.
Have a great summer. I hope you achieve everything on your list.
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BBQ tips: a meat thermometer is key! Also, a two zone fire, and a Steven raichlen (hope I spelled that correctly) cookbook. Go chris!
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I used summer to teach my kids how to cook food. When it rained out, we learned how to make soup and bake goodies. Also, when it rained, we loved to have an "indoor picnic" in the living room...complete with the blanket on the floor and picnic basket filled with all sorts of snacks.
Another thing my daughter loved was a magnetic board with dolls and my son had one with magnetic pieces to build castles...I got them from a school supply store.
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One of my favorite memories from my childhood is sleeping out on our front porch! It seemed like such an adventure! (My mom was not in to real camping!) I'd have 1 or 2 girlfriends over and we'd all put our sleeping bags out on the porch and talk until we fell asleep. When my boys were little we purchased a very inexpenisve tent - it wasn't very big - but we set it up on the deck and they had all kinds of fun with that. The overhang kept it mostly dry when it rained so that helped. Enjoy your summer!
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I found a book lasat week about getting your familoy connected to nature. It is called "The Nature Collection" by Clare Walker Leslie, isbn 1-60342-531-4. It is done by the month, but is full of ideas to learn about each season. You might want to check it out. A bit over the top, but no way do we have to do all of the pages.
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That looks like a great one Chris - thanks for the recommendation.
And next time I will get the title right and check for typos. Sheesh.
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Hi Ali!
I love your posts! I'm new to blogging and today I'm featuring scrap booking on my site with a link to Project Life as well as your site. I just wanted to let you know. Thanks for the great inspiration. Following your blog is how I first learned about Project Life and now I am hooked!
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Thanks Elaine!
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Where can I find a pen pal for my 8 year old? That is an awesome idea, but I want to be safe. Love, love, love your list Ali!
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When my boys were little I made up 'letter centers' for them. Just a box (decorated or not) with pencils, envelopes, and paper inside. I created several sets of very simple letterhead for them with pictures of things they loved at the time. It made letter writing a little bit special and more fun.
love the idea of playing library. I'm sure you have a few library pockets in your stash :)
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The list he can choose from, well all of my kids, is what gets us through EVERY day :) If it wasn't there than he wold be on the computer watching movies. It really helps the flow of everything and cuts down on whining which can happen with 5 kids.
For Damian he has goals he has to work on but he gets a dry erase board with them listed and 10 minute breaks in between. Helps with transitions.
Your list for Simon has some good activities on there! I might be writing some of those down.
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My husband and I have started trying something new when one of our 3 kids says "I'm bored". We do a little jujitsu and say something along the lines of "Hmmm, yah, it's really a drag to feel bored. I don't like that either" and just leave it there. Usually, the child wanders away and we find them engrossed in some activity or another a few minutes later. If instead, they persist with "what should I do?" we go to the classic "What do you think" or "What ideas do you have?". Basically, we just try to resist the urge to "fix" the issue for them and instead encourage them to come up with their own solutions.
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I like the idea of encouraging them to come up with their own solutions. Around here they just tend to need a little nudge in the right direction :).
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My kids loved to play library! One day I found that they had taken the utensil drawer out of their Step Two play kitchen and were using the opening as the book slot to drop their library books through, pretending to be returning them. One was putting them into the slot, and the other was the "librarian" and would take the book and "scan" its barcode to check it back in using the 'scanner' from their toy cash register. Then they'd trade roles. So cute, and such great imaginations!
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I think those of us that "survive summer" live in the deep south! Your summer sounds a lot like our spring! ;) We are still making the best of it. Enjoy and thanks for sharing your life with us.
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My kids had a very limited tv viewing time during the summertime (they are all adults now) many years ago. They each had a list of chores for the day and we kept a running list of 'things to do' in case they were bored. My kids used to love doing most of the things you have on your list and we did a few other things: use sidewalk chalk; fingerpaint with pudding (hose cleaning needed afterwards); picnic lunch; scavenger or treasure hunt; gardening; make a tent over a table or clothesline; or lay on your back and look at clouds.
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Thought you might be interested in a bike camp for Simon called "Lose the Training Wheels" www.losethetrainingwheels.org/ It's a week-long camp designed to help special needs kids learn how to ride a bike independently. Camps are held all over the US (I'm helping host one in Seattle), there's one in Portland which is very well-run. Also one in Longview, WA (near Vancouver WA), but it may be going on this week. Good luck!
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Thanks for our post Ali! This post came at a perfect time :) Today I had set up the slip-n-slide for my kids and nieces. After about 10 minutes of getting great shots of them, all 4 kids were begging me to join them. At first I declined. I had planned on enjoying the sun with a good book while I supervised them. And if I'm honest with myself, I haven't liked the way I've been looking so I didn't want to put on a bathing suit. Then I thought to myself, "They do not think you are fat. They just want you to play with them." So I quietly snuck into the house, put on my bathing suit and surprised them by joining in on the slip-n-slide. It was so fun! I even handed my niece the camera so she could get some shots of me. I also want to be more in the moment this summer. This was a great start to it!
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That is awesome.
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How FUNNY about Dora on the laptop!!! They are too cute, Ali!!! Give them an A for effort!!!
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