Mom Camp™ and Other Summer Possibilities
and a free printable for your kids
On the last day of May with the kids fresh outta school, we hopped on a plane to kick off the break with a week of vacation. Now we’re back—tan, refreshed, and taking on summer like the blank slate that it is.
For the remaining TEN (!!) wide open weeks of summer break, the kids have me as their camp counselor (Mom Camp™) / coach / cruise director … annnnd drill sergeant. 1 (Picture me cracking down on the days lost to Fortnite.)
There are a million ways to do summer.
I like the idea of having no plans, of keeping things low-key and spontaneous. But I also like the idea of summer full of intentional adventures and skill-building. I like the idea of each (elementary-age) kid doing a single 10-week project (learning to read, play the piano, paint with watercolors!) coached by me. I also like the idea of the kids trying a new activity every week. What I’m trying to say is—we’re holding summer loosely over here. Mostly, I like the idea of going slow, being present to the day, and working steadily towards a goal, even if that goal changes. My goal is to steward this summer well, teach my kids some life skills, and enjoy my days.
Maybe this is the summer your kids learn how to turn $100 into $1,000,000. Or maybe it’s the summer of learning how to be a person or learning how to study the Bible. Maybe this is the summer for fancy chalk art, planting a vegetable garden, running a 5k, or helping plan the next family vacation. Maybe it's the summer of honing math skills in preparation for the next school year.
Or maybe this isn’t the summer for a project, but for a rhythm, like Tuesday morning dollar movies or Sunday sundaes or walking to the library for Thursday morning story time.
I made a printable for kids to help with whatever permutation your summer takes. There's space to write a goal (or project or intention). There’s space to recognize wins and jot insights, so kids can look back on the summer and feel proud of how they grew. And of course, I included a blank space for a celebration at the end. Are we ever too old for gold stars? 😉
If your kids need help brainstorming summer activities / projects / goals, here are some questions to get them started:
What do you want to learn about?
What can we realistically do in ten weeks?
What sounds fun?
What do you want to try or explore?
What do you want to get really good at?
Who might be able to help you/show you the ropes?
Which friends might want to do this with you?
What are places we can visit to learn more about this topic? (e.g. library, gardening center, zoo, children’s museum, etc.)
Remember, it’s Mom’s summer, too. I’ll be decluttering my house (again, I know), learning all I can about cost accounting and small business taxes, savoring this art, figuring out a profitability plan for the ranch, and maybe even dabbling in ceramics.
However this summer goes, I love what my friend Molly wrote in her Commencement Address for June: “There’s still joy in the dreaming and the flailing and the parts where my hands get messy.”
Here’s to that kind of summer.
Grab the Printable
Favorite summer resources or go-to activities? Tell us more!
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Not to mention: cook / cleaner / chauffeur. Bless all the moms (and maybe some dads?) who do the heavy lifting of cobbling together childcare and playdates and day camps and classes for an entire season on top of all their other unpaid, invisible labor. You are not alone.
❤️
So many great ideas here!!