Ahhhhhh…can you feel it? The sweet relief that is summer vacation in the world of students and teachers everywhere? Today marks day one of my summer as a mostly stay-at-home mom, something I know I’m very lucky, and also very grateful, to get to do as a teacher. It didn’t really sink in what a sense of relief I’m feeling after a pretty busy and stressful school year until about a half hour ago. I laid my toddler down for a nap, started filing through my mental to-do lists to decide what to work on first, when it hit me: I didn’t absolutely need to do anything. Say what?! Sure, is there cleaning I could do, or a home project I could tackle? Certainly. But it just dawned on me that for the first time in ten months, I could use nap time as “me” time instead of work time and not even feel guilty about it. So what did I decide to do? I grabbed myself a glass of water, put on the Netflix, kicked back on the chaise lounge, and decided to write a post for you fine folks 🙂
I’ve been looking forward to this summer for a while now because my daughter, who will be 18 months next week, is at a great age for us to do tons of fun stuff. We’re down to one nap a day, leaving the house requires a lot less “stuff”, and she’s so much more active and into things this summer. So I’ve decided to take some awesome ideas for summer fun schedules and adapt them to make a plan to ensure I capitalize on my chance to spend time with my girl this summer. My control-freak self may or may not have already created a calendar for the rest of this month with a plan for each day’s activity. Here’s what our summer will look like:
Make something Mondays – Thanks to the plethora of creative ideas available on Pinterest, I’ve already got a ton of ideas for toddler-friendly art projects and crafts. Here’s to letting baby girl get a little messy this summer!
Time to Read Tuesdays – I’m hoping to visit a few local libraries to participate in programs like story hours and 1000 Books Before Kindergarten. I’m lucky to have a little girl who loves books, and as a teacher I see every day the importance of literacy, so I’m hoping to build that love of reading in my daughter right from the start.
Water Fun Wednesday – I was a little hesitant to commit to a day per week of water play, but you know what? At a year and a half water fun can just be a bucket of water with lots of cups and sponges to play with. If my procrastination hasn’t hurt me too badly, I’m hoping to still get us signed up for some local parent-tot swim lessons. We’ll see…
Thoughtful Thursday – I know at this point it’ll mostly be me coming up with and doing the thoughtful things, but in an effort to raise a kind and grateful kiddo, I figured it can only help to let her at least see or take part in doing things for others. On the agenda for this week is to make a Father’s Day gift for Daddy!
Something Fun Friday – This will be me wildcard day. “Something fun” can be any number of things (trips to the park, bubbles outside,a trip to the zoo, a visit to Grandma and Grandpa’s or Oma and Opa’s, a shopping trip with Mama…).
And although all work and no play makes Heather a dull girl….it’s not realistic for me to not plan to get a little something done in between the fun. I’ve also created a daily/weekly chore chart to hopefully help keep me productive and off the couch. Got my chore chart here, and posted it on the fridge next to our calendar o’ fun.
AND because being mama and cleaning the house could never be the only things I had to do, this summer I’ll be in and out of work here there unpacking/organizing my new classroom and getting ready for my return to middle school. Fourth grade’s been fun, but a new adventure awaits back in 7th and 8th grade. Check back for updates on the summer adventures of this teacher mom. Thanks for reading!
Love to Learn ~ Love to Live 