School's Out
I think it was the end of 2nd grade, I remember the feeling on the last day of school, a euphoria, school was out!!! What freedom I felt! No more responsibilities, 3 months of lazy days, great weather, fun activities, sleeping a little bit later, getting to play outside, what a great feeling!
That feeling continued each year, regardless of my summer plans, even when I had various summer jobs and in college when I was going home for the summer. I did have responsibilities, but it was different. I didn’t have “the work” hanging over my head. Don’t get me wrong, I liked school, my friends, activities, and even some of the schoolwork, but the feeling of freedom from the school responsibilities was still wonderful.
As a parent of school-aged children, the end of the school year still held that euphoria. Less management of their activities, less structure to our days, more leeway in what we needed to accomplish, and more enjoyment of each other with fun activities.
At least that was the vision. The reality at times was being the referee to sibling squabbles, an urge to be the ultimate planner of everyone’s activities, and resistance from my children to follow the plan that I had made. All of that led to exhaustion.
The solution for me to get more enjoyment out of our summers was to shift from being the Family Brain, to a team leader of sorts. To realize that our family was just that, OURS, not just mine and to make it a smooth running, thriving team, it meant I needed to share some of the responsibility, recognize how capable my children were to solve their own problems (see The Joy of Boredom article for ways to do this), and train and encourage them to manage their own lives. The shift to that new positive family took a long time, however, it was worth every ounce of effort, minute, mile, and dollar. It was an investment in my children to allow them to grow, an investment in myself to know I was being the best parent I could be, and an investment in the future relationships I would have with my husband and children.
So, school’s out, are you looking for a summer of euphoria or are you anxious about extra free time and the difficulties it may cause? Take some time to start your shift to positive parenting that creates a loving family that works, grows, and enjoys together by taking a class. In the meantime, here are some extra tips to help immediately:
