Best Summer Ever

There’s a phrase we girls coined last year. “Best Summer Ever”. Yep.. I think I threw that out there on the first day at the pool. I was confident that I had reached a point with my children that we would be having little to no meltdowns and I was even more sure that I would be pleasantly surprised by their cooperation skills.

Fast forward a few weeks into the summer grind and you could hear momma after momma snicker as we would throw out the “Best Summer Ever” phrase while one after the other would tote theirs to the bathroom for an attitude adjustment. A string of summer fails could be met with “BSE” text from all of us.

By the end of the summer we wished we had penned a “Best Summer Ever Memoir”. Guaranteed a best seller.

So here we go again.... “Best Summer Ever part 2”. That’s right. I declare a do over. My hopes are set high for Summer 2013. I’m going to stare it in the eye and conquer it with mad ninja skills.  Here’s how……

    1.   The ol’ Chore Chart. I’m fairly certain this will be met with gnashing of teeth but I will prevail in my efforts. Three easy peasy chores are all I will require of my children each day. Maybe I will look up at the end of the week to a clean home.

            2. Activity sheets. Oh to be a teachers child. My mother was convinced that if we didn’t use it we would lose it. “It” being our mad math and reading comprehension skills of course. I assured her that we were the only lame kids on the block that ever had to do worksheets during their summer break. Well…now my kids can be lame to. Welcome to the club kiddos.

    3.     Outdoor/Indoor planned activities. If its not planned then it will not happen around my house.  The intention may be there but if it’s not prepared for then we all end up watching too much television all summer long. That ain’t happening.

    4.     A little more lingering. I attend an amazing bible class on Sundays. This past Sunday our teacher challenged us to take time and linger. Linger in our relationships, conversations and God’s Word. Essentially the word “Linger” means to be slow in parting or in quitting something. To be reluctant to leave. I feel freakishly fast paced in my day to day. Very little time to sit and converse with friends. Even more so in my reading of Gods Word. Just to linger.

So I’m curious how you handle your summers?  Do you have an survivor kit action plan?  I’m more than anxious to hear your ideas.

Peace Y’all