A Heads Up For Oncoming Summer

I thought I’d write a little fair warning for myself for next Summer seeing as how June hit and I was blindsided by the inevitable craziness, again.  I promised myself I’d republish it this May. It’s June. I hope I’m not too late.

July 18, 2015

Dear Shalagh,

Just a little reminder about what you may be in store for if you don’t take some heed from previous Summers and get onto some pre-planning. The word of this year’s Summer is Proactive. The opposite of “ignore the inevitable and be very very sorry you did that” reactive.

If you have already signed Eamon up for his Summer camps, good for you. But just remember to write them down on every loving calendar you have. Last year’s oopsie with soccer camp nearly had you missing it. And make sure you buy a new bottle of Neutragena Ultra Sheen sporty sunscreen in a can and put it right in the car with the extra obnoxious baby sunscreen stick for faces. Eamon’s blistered nose last year will hopefully be another bad memory. Maybe in the Winter, have the kids come up with little recipes for fun un-bored Summer Days. Make recipe cards for them and make a special anti-boredom recipe box. Like “pack a picnic lunch and a craft and go to the park and ask a friend to meet us there”. Or “let her draw all over herself with washable markers and then Fill the Hello Kitty pool with pink bubbles and let her get a bath”. Well worth the advanced effort in entertainment and photo ops.

Hopefully you have updated your Summer Supplies at the end of last season. New bubbles, freezie pops, bathing suits, and some other toys to pull out on the day when everyone’s bored. It’s never too early to put rendezvous and day trips on the calendar. Wednesdays at the beach is a great tradition and also request guest appearances from helpers. And send out pre-notes for play dates to see who is interested and ready to book.

Plan out some Meals for July when the fruit and veggies kick in. Sundays and Mondays worked out good for cooking double meals. Gazpacho, fish tacos, grilled meats and fruit salsa. And truly make sure there’s at least 3 things that are either already made or easy DIY for breakfast. Because Summer means you can have a break too. In fact, let go of the notion that everyone has to show up for breakfast at the same time. Vacation mode means it would be nice but whenever is good too.

Schedule a pedicure and a wine drinking friendship night right off the bat so you have something to look forward to. Wear your friendship bracelet, tell everyone to come over to your house and throw a party if you can’t get out. You need to be with your people more than once every 3 weeks.

And lastly, you need to ask that husband to pick a day and a half every week that he’ll be taking the kids. Away preferably. It’s nothing personal, it’s just a daft guy thing. And have him figure out a lovely date night for the two of you and arrange the childcare. OK?

The biggest favor you can do for yourself, if nothing else, is to relax the schedule. Let the kids stay up, let them sleep in. Make it OK to take a little more time to get up, cook or not, clean the kitchen, and get out. And know that this way, when there’s no way in heck you are even making it to the gym for even a second workout this week, that’s OK. Because you’ve got two kids and something has got to give. Might as well let the Summer schedule give back to you too.

Good luck and I hope with a little forward thinking and mapping, your Summer will not be even half as stressful as the last two have been.

Take care of yourself please,

Love,

Shalagh

And If you enjoyed what you read, subscribe, via the subscription box in the sidebar, to my thrice weekly posts via your emailbox. And visit me on Instagram to see my daily pictures, friend me or like my page on Facebook. Or come find me on Twitter orPinterest too. I am always practicing Intentional Intouchness so chat at me please. I live for conversations.

And, as always, Thanks to you for your visit.