~ In summer, the song sings itself. ~William Carlos Williams
Photo by aussiegall
For some, the month of July marks the beginning of the celebration of summer, while for others it indicates that the summer holiday is nearly halfway over. July offers ample opportunity to slow down and evaluate how your family is wiling away the days of summer. Here are some thoughts to bear in mind:
1. Assess motivation.
Thoughtfully consider why each activity, camp, or trip is on your list of plans. Are you planning on taking the big vacation because it’s summer and that is what you “should” do? Or is the trip away a chance to purposefully engage and connect with each other as a family in a new and exciting (or old and beloved) locale? Are you sending your children to swim lessons or away to camp because that is just what everyone in the neighborhood does, or is it because this activity or time away will genuinely enrich their growth and learning?
As you look over your plans, follow the lead Leo Babuta sets forth in The Power of Less and ask yourself, “what is essential?” You may find the summer plans are suddenly much less complicated.
Photo by Todd Baker
2. Embrace limitation.
The fact of the matter is that even the most thoughtfully made plans will get derailed. Life brings the reality of economic upset, rain delays, and last-minute cancellations. How will you respond as a family when you encounter circumstances that threaten to limit your summertime plans?
Find the strength to surrender what is not so that you might fully accept what is.
If the family budget is leaner than in years past, take up the challenge to see how much fun you can have without spending money. Amy from MomAdvice.com did exactly that when she planned a Money-Free Weekend. Amy was inspired by this list from The Simple Dollar: 100 Things To Do During a Money Free Weekend. Plan a staycation, visit a local national park, sleuth out free admission days at your local zoo or museum.
So many of the simplest, most uncomplicated ways to spend summer days are very cheap or free, and there is no reason to allow a slimmed-down budget to overshadow family fun.
Perhaps it is not the economy but rather unfavorable weather that threatens to limit the way your family enjoys this summer. Again, the key is to shift your focus from what you can’t do to what you can.
Outdoor plans rained out? Rainy days deliver the gifts of kitchen experimentation, literary explorations, and heart-to-heart conversations. Scorching afternoon temperatures keeping you indoors? Accept the invitation to wake up with the sun and revel with nature in the beauty of the early morning hours, or stay up late to dance with the lightening bugs in the cooler hours of dusk.
As you strive to overcome the challenges and disruptions that will come your way this summer, you are teaching and modeling for your children the importance of flexibility, critical thinking, and problem solving – lessons they will remember long past the celebratory days of summer.
Photo by Per Ola Wiberg
3. Emphasize retrospection
Who among us hasn’t been startled by the swiftness with which these summer days pass by? Schedule in to your days and evenings some purposeful time to capture the highlights of this season.
Plan to keep your camera close-by. Sure, we all bring out the cameras to capture a stroll past the lions at the zoo or the smiling family standing in front of a national monument. Yet the sweetest, or most outrageous, or most vivacious moments often happen in the everyday days of summer. A little one’s first sno-cone or the big kids’ mud fight are occasions that deserve documentation.
If you are often unsatisfied with how your photos turn out, let this be the summer you change that! Angie Warren of The Creative Mama is running a series called For the Love of Photography. Perhaps that series or any number of photography resources available online and in print will be the starting point for your own adventure in learning how best to capture to family adventures – big and small.
Schedule time to journal as a family. We all know how quickly the details of the day are lost. Plan to meet together for a few minutes every evening or even just once a week to record the best (and yes, even the worst!) moments. What a treasure you will have at the end of the season – a retelling of each moment of summer from the unique and powerful perspectives of each member of the family. If your little one is verbal but cannot yet write, make sure an older child or a parent records his thoughts and feelings, too.
When the recording of days is thoughtfully and intentionally given priority, memories of the fullness of the summer season are suddenly much more tangible and accessible for your family to treasure for years to come.
Perhaps no other season is as looked forward to or so mournfully missed at its conclusion than summer. It will slip through your fingers if you don’t put forth the effort to grasp it! How is your family putting forth the effort to make mindful plans this summer?
{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
We have plans to go to Disney World this summer and to me going there is like a working vacation. This time when we go we are taking it easy. I’m not racing to get through the parks and so what if we don’t see everything. I want to have lazy afternoons by the pool and take a nap if we want to take a nap.
I also like your idea of doing a family journal. I keep a personal journal and my blog, but to do something together as a family getting everyone’s input on what they liked is a great idea.
Rana’s last blog post..Wordless Wednesday!
@Rana, first of all, YES to naps at Disney World! It makes for such pleasant afternoons and evenings, especially for the nights you are going to parades/light shows.
Secondly, I’m trying to do better with journaling the girls’ reflections on our days. It’s fun now that the toddler is more verbal!
Megan’s last blog post..Be Mindful When Making Summer Plans
I enjoyed your post. It’s funny, I just wrote a post on our blog about the rhythm of summer and how we are enjoying it. I love your ideas to journal as a family and keeping your camera close-by. Love this blog!
Erin’s last blog post..The Rhythm of Summer
@Erin, thanks for the kind words. I think this is the point in the summer when it’s natural to want to slow down and savor each day.
Megan’s last blog post..Be Mindful When Making Summer Plans
Thank you so much for this post. I really needed it today. I need to print it out and read it again and then stop and think about everything that it says.
Amy’s last blog post..Visions Become Realities
@Amy, I can say with all honesty that I also need to print it out and make it something I keep in front of me each day! None of this comes easily or naturally to me – it’s a matter of thoughtful PRACTICE.
Megan’s last blog post..Be Mindful When Making Summer Plans
We have nothing huge planned but we do plan on going camping this month. We are halfway to the end of the summer right now and we are just taking time to be a family! Thanks for the post, great advice (as usual!)
Chele’s last blog post..Thirsty Thursday – Gentleness
@Chele, to me that is the best part of summer – reconnecting as a family. I hope that is exactly what you find happens within your family in the coming month!
Megan’s last blog post..Be Mindful When Making Summer Plans
We travel a lot in the summer, but all of it is related to visiting friends and family. It does make time go faster, but we have a blast while doing it. I agree it’s hard to say goodbye to summer. Thanks for the post!
Stacie’s last blog post..The Distractible Mommy
@Stacie, you are so welcome. These are thoughts I must ponder DAILY.
When we lived in Texas, our only summer travel was to see family. It was kind of nice – not a lot of pressure to go and see and do, mostly just time spent hanging out with the ones we love and missed so much. Now that we live in the same state as all of our family again, we don’t know what to do with ourselves during the summer!
Megan’s last blog post..July 10th: SK Showcase and Weekend Links
Since my husband is a teacher, we look forward to summer all year! We have made a conscious effort to take advantage of the warm weather by bike riding through different neighborhoods, or bringing pizza to the park for dinner. And you can never make too many visits to Dairy Queen!!
@turnitupmom, I fully agree about the ice cream indulgence! And pizza at the park = heaven. It’s hard to believe how quickly these days are going by. It’ll be Back To School time before we know it!
Megan’s last blog post..Simple As That: Come on, get a little muddy!
Thank you so much for the shout-out on the blog entry. This is something we are really working on and trying to just slow down and enjoy being home more. Great list of tips!
@Amy, thanks for sharing such helpful, practical ideas for summer fun on a budget!
Megan’s last blog post..Simple As That: Come on, get a little muddy!