It’s here again! The hard work of the school year, the tears from trying to get your kids to do what they need to do, the exhaustion from the busy days come to a halt and are replaced with a few months of refreshing rest. Of joyful, thankful, peaceful, and content young hearts that play in the sun all day and come in and go right to bed. It’s a time I can do all the things that fill me up that I haven’t been able to do during the school year, without interruption.
I think that’s what society and movies think summer should and can be for teachers, and maybe it is for you (enjoy it!), but it doesn’t seem to be that for me with two young kids. I am very privileged to be able to not work during the summer this year. I can easily fall into the trap of thinking that summer is a care-free break, but instead of living in someone else’s fantasy land, I will choose to enjoy my summer how it actually plays out. I’ll choose to see the busyness as a good way of spending time with friends and family and doing fun things that promote learning and character building. Instead of seeing summer as a “break,” I will see my summer as a time of having more chances to disciple my kids and to love others as a family, as Jesus calls us to do all the time. I will make time to spend time with God, and, even if it’s short, exercise, create art, do what I love and love what fills my days. I will read to my kids. We’ve already finished Little Pilgrim’s Progress and my oldest wants to make a mini play of it after dinner one of these days! Instead of seeing spending time with my kids as a chore, I choose to see it as a gift of time to be able to enjoy my kids and build up their character by pointing them to Jesus.
It’s easy for me to want what has worked in the past. Last summer, I wrote a blog post about having a flexible schedule for things to do with my kids where each day had a specific activity category. I still love that plan and will do it when I can but I can’t hold tightly to it this year since our schedule just naturally looks different. A friend told me about “Mail Mondays” - something I would add to the Monday plan for my kids. Perhaps mailing kid art to a loved one to enjoy. The handwriting practice would be a bonus! The schedule is filling up fast with a trip to the beach, a trip to the Pacific Northwest, swim lessons, church camp, chess camp, workshops, VBS, holidays, birthdays, a special friend’s visit etc. It’s all good things as we seek to love God, love others, and make sure our cups are filled.
Another thing we’re doing this summer is giving our kids a little bit of cash if they finish a whole workbook by the end of summer. M is doing one about the states and J is doing one for those entering Kindergarten. They’ve already been motivated to do a lot of pages on their own, which feels like a miracle!
That has been one success so far, but we have failures too. We have a white basket that collects all of the boys’ things that they leave out throughout the week and they are to put the things away before any screen time on Saturdays. One day, while I was out walking with a dear friend, my husband found that they had stashed the majority of the white basket’s contents (for a couple weeks) behind the couch upstairs. My husband had sent me a picture of what he found and I just sighed. Why do my boys have to be supervised so carefully and not learn from their past? But I can think the same thing about myself - why have I not learned to trust in God’s faithfulness by now? So, after taking a deep breath, I choose to be patient with my kids and give them a chance to fix it, with no screen time until it’s done. I’ve often told them that if they have less stuff, it will be easier to clean. So they got motivated to get rid of some of their toys at a garage sale this summer. Hopefully it actually happens, even though I never like sitting in the hot sun to manage a garage sale. However, it can be a good way for the boys to practice money skills and some toys will be gone! I’d love to have a lighter home with less. We’ve nicknamed our home “Shalem Cottage,” cottage of peace. I want my boys to grow up in a house of peace, knowing how to take care of the blessings God has given them.
At the end of the summer, I hope and pray that I and my kids will be excited about the next school year, ready to tackle the challenges that will come, be able to look back on the summer with fondness, and clearly see our personal growth.
Character building and busy schedules can be tiring. If you’re tired like me, let’s refresh in the Lord this summer! Memorize 2 Timothy 4:1-8 with me. Let’s shift our priorities to what God’s priorities are. Let’s focus on Sabbath and loving others well, whether we’re on vacation or not.
Lord,
Help my kids and I focus on loving You and loving each other this summer. Even if we get disappointed or frustrated, I pray that we enjoy our time anyway because You are with us and help us see that hard is not the same as bad because it helps us grow. Make us more like You.
Amen.