Summer Parenting

We are officially on Summer vacation here people! I am equal parts relieved and terrified. We spent this morning (the girls and I) vegging out for a bit and then we buckled down and planned our Summer routine. (I think I just felt me readership drop off slightly- wait it gets worse- there's a schedule).

Most Summers I would just go with the flow and take it easy but since my two oldest daughters are having some minor difficulties getting along with one another, I think it best to keep them as busy as possible- for as long as possible. Otherwise the Summer 2010 was slated to be remembered as the one when M1 annihilated M2 (or visa versa).

Don't let the smiles fool you

Hey! Don't look at me- Grandma is the one dressing them like triplets!

I had each girl make a list of things they wanted to do this Summer. Luckily there were a lot of overlapping activities on their lists despite their apparent hatred for each other. We decided on a loose routine for our semi-structured Summer days.

6-8:00 am. wake up (kids first, parents last)
8:00 am. eat, brush, dress

9:30 am. leave the house for one of the
following activities:

- museums (mostly the ones we are members of)
- library (once a week)
- exploring Pittsburgh (I want to see all the different neighborhoods!)
- parks
- or stay in for crafts on some rainy days
12:00 pm. swim team practice? (we're going to try it out- not sure they'll be into it?)
1-3:00 pm. lunch, nap, rest, MAMA TIME
3:00 pm. back outside- walk, bike, farmer's market, park
5:00 pm. start dinner
6:30 pm. dinner
7:00 pm. pawn kids off on the other parent until bedtime.

You know, the baby years were great- having all the kids so spread out in age was easy- I laughed at people who had their kids one year apart- thinking they were insane. But now as I'm trying to think of ways to simultaneously occupy a 10, 6 and 2 year old I'm not so sure I had it right after all.

So basically my plan is to exhaust these kids so they don't have enough energy left to drive me crazy. The only flaw I see in the schedule is the "rest" period for M1,the oldest, while the other two are napping. Hopefully a couple hours of quiet reading time will be welcomed by her after a morning of activities. But if she's bored I might have to incorporate some larger ongoing projects/crafts for her.

Of course, if you know me at all, then you know that this entire schedule will actually be pushed back by about one hour due to my "having no concept of time".

And I reserve the right to cancel any or all plans based on observances of the
following:
-tantrums thrown by children at any point in the day,
- inclement weather, acts of god,
- traffic jams, inconvenient construction zones, making wrong turns,

and of course cancellations may be made as a result of my
-headaches
-caffeine depravity
-or general shift of mood (hormonal or otherwise).

I'd say theses kids are all set to have a great Summer-
at least 75% of the time.


And here's to us surviving the other 25%!
Cheers!
glug glug glug...

Good luck to you on your Summer parenting adventures too.