Busy Mom’s Guide to Summer SanityIt is about to happen here in Georgia. SUMMER VACATION. In just a few short weeks, school will be out for the summer.
Let’s face it, for the majority of us, summer tends to be filled with a ton of activities. In our house, the kids have camp, ballet, cheerleading, lacrosse, sleepovers, trips to the pool, parties, plus all of the travel that we have planned this summer. Maintaining control over my house and our family calendar is often a challenge in the summer, so I do what I can to make certain thing run smoothly.
I love when my kids are home for the summer. The house is livelier and we get to do so much together as a family. I want my kids to be out in the sunshine and to stay active; however, there are some tips that I follow each year to ensure our long break will run smoothly and everyone is happy. Here are a few tips that will help save your sanity this summer.
We spend 15 minutes each day as a family cleaning our home. We set a timer, and everyone has an area that they are responsible for. In the summer, we often do this twice a day to maintain a clean home. This is the time when rogue shoes, clothes, towels, toys, backpacks and more get put in their proper places.
PRO TIP: Reduce your time to 10 minutes if you plan to do this twice a day.
This was the biggest sanity saver ever! I hang a desktop calendar in our kitchen, and our children are responsible for writing any approved activities on it. They write absolutely everything on the calendar, including time, place, activity and cost. This works beautifully during the school year and even better in the summer.
PRO TIP: Affix a pen or marker to your calendar so no one can ever say, “I couldn’t find anything to write with!”
We make a lot of plans during the summer, and many of them we do together as a family. We sit at our kitchen table and discuss what we could do for vacation, events, etc.
PRO TIP: Don’t want to give kids complete control? Choose several activities and then let them pick from a list.
No one wants to be sick during the summer. It’s pretty miserable, isn’t it? My kids want to be outside playing or at camp, rather than under the covers sniffling and sick. No matter what you do, sick happens and our kids might get sick no matter how much we do to prevent it. When you find yourself saying that Sick just got real.(TM), the Pediatric Brands of Pfizer Consumer Healthcare are there with three solutions – Children’s Advil®, Children’s Robitussin®, and Children’s Dimetapp® – to help tackle the ickiest symptoms.
PRO TIP: Keep things on hand at all times to make your kids comfortable when they aren’t feeling their best.
Visit the Sick just got real.™ Facebook Page
This post is sponsored by Pfizer Consumer Healthcare. All opinions are my own.
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We keep a summer calendar all year long, because it cuts the crazy. I can easily make plans by looking at our iCal and seeing our difference schedules. I couldn’t do without it!
A family calendar is a great idea. Things can get pretty hectic here during the summer. I second stocking up on children’s Robitussin. It seems like everyone here gets a summer cold no matter what we do.
I do try so hard to be organized! It is not easy! I won’t get around to it again until my son goes to camp though!
These are great tips to save summer – or your sanity 😉 Thanks for giving some ideas so that busy Moms everywhere can relax and make it through summer break!
These are great tips! Attempting to juggle working from home and having the kids off for the summer is not easy. I do my best to balance our days accordingly.
I like the idea of cleaning 10 minutes twice a day. I’ll definitely be doing that with my kids this summer because I am sick of feeling like their maid all summer long.
This is a pretty good plan of action. Summer is vacation time but you still have to keep things from getting crazy.
Love this. What a great guide. Things can get so crazy around here during the summertime so this is really great, and helpful hopefully I can keep on top of things this summer.
Summer can certainly be a crazy time for parents. Planning ahead always works out better even though plans don’t always hold and work out. LOL
I would like to make this idea, plan as a family. Hope it turns out well or will it make me crazy?
Summer is very boring for kids. Good thing that our son never get bored! We play all the time during his play time and most of the time, he plays with his toys.
I like your idea of doing family cleaning sessions daily AND using a timer.
This way things don’t build up to an intimidating-to-start level!
Those are great tips for families. I feel like I’m going crazy even without kids to plan with!
These are great tips. Summer can get really crazy and it’s hard to stay in control in the midst of all the craziness. Thanks for sharing.
Love this guide! Having 3 kids in the house myself, these tips are definitely needed!
We just sat together and made our list of summer plans too. They’re not grandiose but they’re all fun. 🙂
Getting work done during the summer can be hard with the kids at home. Thankfully, my daughter is older now and leaves to go to work and such. We love keeping a family calendar. It helps us to organize bills, events, and work schedules.
This summer is going to be busy for sure! These are great tips!
Keeping a calendar to keep on top of things is a great idea. We do this all year long for us.
I always have a good supply of cold and flu medicine. The last thing i want to do is go to the store when i am sick or with a sick little one.
Number 2 and 3 best go along together at the same time. Trust me, I’ve seen it work with my sister’s family!
A family calendar is such a smart idea. It really helps to keep track of events and commitments and streamlines it all in one place.