stugglingmum - Strugglingmum

The summer holidays are fast approaching….two more months to go until school is out. Whether you are a stay at home parent or work outside the home, I am sure that by the end of summer, you are looking foward for back to school. During summer, routines go out of the window, the days are long and the kids need to be occupied…..for your own sanity.

I always start with good intentions to make summer fun with a bucket list of fun activities to do (check out the free bucket list printable http://strugglingmum.com/product/summer-bucket-list/ ), however end up doing same old same old. Kids get bored, I get frustrated and by the end of August, I am counting the minutes for school to start.

Like many other parents, I enroll my 8-years old to summer school, not only because I work outside the home, but also to keep her occupied for a few hours during the day and socialize with children her age. In the past, I had enrolled her also for other evening activities but the hassle of running around in the sun was getting too much. Some parents go overboard, filling every minute with activities, desperate to keep kids occupied at all costs, and end up running around during all hours of the day…..even during the hot hours. This is self-inflicting torture….. Be kind to yourself, and tone it down.

Some psychologists recommend letting your children get bored during the summer months and not over pack their days with activities (read Psychologists recommend children to be bored in summer ) .

When we fill every minute of the day, we are leaving little space for their imagination to run wild. When a child is bored, s/he would use imagination, to entertain oneself and discover new interests which otherwise would have not discovered.

Let’s be real here, it can be tough at first….because kids will be nagging at you how bored they are ….but encourage them to find something to do, such as discover the joys of reading, draw, or build a fort with an empty box. Remember when we were young, there was no summer school and activities were very limited….our days were spent at the beach, meeting friends, playing with toys or reading.