Image courtesy of David Castillo Dominici at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Summer can be a great time! Some moms love It! Some moms dread it. Others REALLY dread it! Why, because it lives up to all the dread. I don't think a positive attitude solves everything. It doesn't hurt. I was always a little nervous about summer. That nervous feeling turned into "I can not do this for three months!" After a week or two, things settled into a good sync. Over the years, I came to expect the a few days of "transition" every June. That helped me realize that the difficulties would not last forever.
It might be helpful to create some rules of the house for summer. Since many days do not have the morning rush to get out the door, expectations might be a little different. It may be important to post them and go over them often in the beginning of summer.
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Be up by 9 a.m.
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Get ready including a shower. Stay in the bathroom no longer than 15 min.
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After dressing, get breakfast and clean up afterwards.
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Do morning chores. Check chore chart.
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Read for 30 minutes. Fill up reading log sheet when finished.
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May play outside with neighbors.
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Do any "summer homework. "
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Lunch ( mom will prepare with others help.)
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If at home in afternoon then may have 30 minutes of screen time during the afternoon.
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All other time must be spent playing.
It would be helpful to set some rules about playing wIth neighbors(when, how and where).
One other area of rules is attitude/behavior. As children get older, rules on children's attitude (toward mom, the rules listed above and toward siblings and other children) become essential. This is a great area to enlist dad's help!
As one who has raised three children who were not "yes, mama" types and as someone who now works in the field,of behavior, I have one major suggestion. Isolate a preferred activity that can only be accessed if the schedule and attitude rules are followed. For example, 30 minutes of video games is available if the schedule and attitude/behavioral rules are followed. It isn't a constitutional right to have a preferred activity and there are criteria that need to be followed to enjoy that activity. This may be new at your house. It may cause quite an upheaval at first but will make life much smoother in the long run.
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