This time a year I often hear moms say two things. Some will say, "I'm so excited to have less schedule and be able to do fun things with my children." Other moms are scrambling to figure out how she is going to handle summer without the structure of school. It may because of the parent's work schedule or just the fact summer is a hard adjustment for mom and kids. Different can be good but it also can be difficult.
When my children were growing up, I had a different set of emotions mostly because I had a son with learning differences. I was thrilled to give up the advocating process for the summer. I also was scared to death! I knew there was less schedule which was good but it also meant I had to be "on" all the time. Anyone who has a child diagnosed with a disability, learning difference or mental health challenge knows exactly what I mean.
Let's concentrate on why summer is vital to avoid advocating burnout. Advocating for a child requires laser focus. There is no room to let down during the school year. I know when I took my eyes off the goal of moving my child to a next step of success, the wheels feel off of the rail. A person can only retain that kind of attention for so long. Summer may be challenging in many ways. On the other hand, there are no calls from the school. There are no meetings with your child's team. There are no high emotional emails being written. There is rest from this type of emotion, planning and action.
Everyone needs a rest from most of the daily tasks that come. It is no different with advocating. When August comes, advocating must begin. This rest enables a parent to recharge to begin the advocating race again. At that point, advocating gives a mom rest from some of her summer duties. As a mom, there is always a job to be done. Rest is vital from each of these including advocating. Rest helps a mom to recharge physically emotionally and mentally. It takes energy in all of these to be a strong advocate for a child.
Take time off of advocating this summer to rejuvenate!
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