Summer Routine

My mood makes a drastic change the minute school lets out every single year. I become very sad and overwhelmed. While many parents look forward to fun times spent with their children and making memories, I dread the day to day mood swings and lack of routine for Hunter.

 Every summer I make a deal with myself that I am going to do crafts with the kids and have them do homework activities to keep their brains working. I make it my goal to keep them away from electronics as much as possible. I tell them an hour of video games a day, and I mean it (at the time)! However, by the end of the first week, I am usually exhausted beyond words. I need a break.  I need a drink! I need a closet to lock myself into for the rest of the summer!

We are now entering our third week of the summer and I am happy to announce that I have not locked myself in a closet quite yet. We did take a quick trip home which was a nice break and a bit of a vacation. The minute we returned, my challenge began.

I sat up a chores chart for both boys and for each day they complete their chores well and in a timely manor, I told them I will pay them a dollar.  They have to complete their chores and some sort of homework type activity (reading, math problems, word search, etc) before they can do any video games.

We have only tried it for a little over a week, but it seems to be working. They are all for getting paid and I am all for some help around the house. I have to stay on them and show them what to do, so some of it becomes more work for me, but it is better than nothing. They also know what has to be done in order to get to their ultimate goals (money and video games).  They each earned a few dollars last week (I'm not easy). They are still getting more video game time than I like, but it is still less time than they normally do and it is well earned!

I have signed them up for a week of bible school. Hunter will be doing a computer camp for a week and Grant will be doing a church day camp and a tennis camp. Those little reprieves will be nice. 

I will keep trying my best. I can't say it won't be without some glasses of wine or that every day will be great, but so far so good.

How do you keep your kids on track over the summer?

#summerroutine