Healthy Summer Routine with Your Children
One way to make the summer more fun (for your children AND for you) is to create something of a “macro” schedule. While the summer should be a time of fun, relaxing and recovering from the school year, it is also a good opportunity to learn new things, but in a fun, relaxed way. To avoid over-scheduling or getting too detailed, you might consider a schedule that could look something like:
Monday: Make a Craft
Tuesday: Take a Trip(museum, zoo, pool, sports event, special restaurant lunch…)
Wednesday: What do we do Wednesday?(aka Kids’ Choice)
Thursday: Throwback Thursday(pick a subject from last year at school to read about)
Friday: Friendly Friday (make a play date)
This way, there is a schedule, but you can be flexible with the details. Your children can feel that they are an integral part of what their summer involves. They have the order that helps them focus, but the choice that helps them learn how to structure their own time.
Other ideas might include picking a skill for your children to learn by doing that activity at the same time every week, such as learning to cook (make cookies, for example), or reading a particular book (or reading a story in the newspaper on the same day every week), or learning to use paints, or practicing a particular sport, and so on…. Whatever plan works best for you, the idea is to provide structure, so the summer isn’t “wasted,” but also to give your children some control over what may be their most favorite time of year. This way, you might teach your children how to use free time and to have lots of fun!
As the founder and managing director of Destination Sitters, LLC, a national hotel and event babysitting service, and the mother of two children, I strongly believe that family comes first. I personally needed babysitting when I moved to San Diego 14 years ago. Like most parents, I assumed there were standards for temporary babysitting; in reality, there are no state standards or licensing requirements for temporary babysitting. The idea for Destination Sitters was born! I wanted to Give Parents Peace of Mind® when traveling with their children, so I created strict screening requirements for the sitters we refer. There is nothing like the peace of mind that comes from getting great professional help to care for your children, especially when traveling away from home. I and my partners, along with our office staff, have that one goal in mind with everything we do.
Through the years of working with children, I have been inspired to write three books, and this blog for parents’ and children’s wellbeing. I believe the best way to teach a child is leading by example, with love, honesty, integrity, compassion, perseverance, and personal responsibility. Learning these values and teaching children that all women and men are equal will encourage them to dream big to be anything they want to be!
An entrepreneur for over 35 years, I previously spent years running a construction and design company with two offices in California and built million-dollar estates and remodeled existing ones. For three and half years, I was one of the primary designers on HGTV’s Curb Appeal. I have also been published in books, magazines and newspapers, and have been a featured designer in multiple showcase houses.