This summer came flying in hot this year! The hustle and bustle of the school year seemed to wrap itself up in what felt like days. And then poof — here was summer. Which means it’s time to figure out summer activities.
Summer Activities
I began the spreadsheet well in advance. Carefully looking up activities based on my children’s ages, cost, dates, and all the relevant details.
I even went so far as to color code them, so I could see if we had any overlap to save some drive time.
Then I just sat and stared at it.
I was consumed with anxiety trying to figure out how to accomplish even one or two of these things.
My husband and I started the conversation with our kids, and tossed out some of the ideas to see if anything was engaging. Lots of things sounded fun, but our five-year-old is so enthusiastic that she will jump on board with just about anything.
So we dialed this conversation back, and decided to pick just one activity this summer.
Again, my anxiety decided to creep back in, and the thoughts began to spiral. Is this enough? Are my kids behind because they aren’t playing a sport? Will they be missing out?
Is One Thing Enough?
We decided as a family that it was enough for us and here’s why. Although it’s only one formal activity that required us to be somewhere once a week, what I wasn’t seeing was all of the other amazing things we’ll be involved in this summer.
I wasn’t giving credit to the many other things we do. This was creating an unrealistic expectation that we weren’t doing enough. And I gave myself permission to release myself from those unrealistic expectations, and it felt liberating.
I work unconventional hours, and therefore my daytime flexibility depends on the day. So, I do have times of the day that I can spend with my kids. And I began to reframe the way I was looking at this summer.
I started to see summer as an opportunity to spend time with my kids; as a time to make memories. We’ll still be active, spending time at the pool, exploring local parks, zoos, playing outside, eating snow cones, having picnics, and more.
We love to be spontaneous as a family together, and I can’t wait to see what little adventures unroll this summer.
We are always flying 100 miles per hour at our house, and leaning into the little joys and simplicities of being a kid is what we felt was enough for our family this year.
So this summer we are not scheduling lots of activities, but it will still be great.
