My 10 Rules for Summer

Friday was our first morning of summer vacation and as I watched Jackson sitting on the couch with the IPad watching Disney JR I felt like a bit of a failure.

I mean it’s the first day of summer vacation and this is the best I can do and if this is as good as it gets then what will the next 10 (10!) weeks be like.

And then I stepped out of the situation .

Was everyone happy? Yup.

So what if it wasn’t a pinteresting first day of summer, everyone was happy. Everyone was having fun. There was no need to drag him away from his comfy spot on the couch and force him to do something else.

I decided I needed some rules for the summer, for myself to keep things in focus .

10 Rules for Summer Vacation

1. Life does not have to look like Pinterest. In fact life is probably better when it doesn’t look like Pinterest. Perfect images stress me out and so does gathering crafting supplies, being pinteresting makes me twitchy.

2. If everyone is happy, leave them be. This has been my rule since Jack was an infant. If he’s playing happily by himself I let him be. If he’s watching TV unless we have to go somewhere I let him be. If he’s pulling all the plastic containers out of the cabinet I let him be.

3. We will go outside every day. I’ve said it before but I have no problem being inside even when it’s nice out. Sometimes I just like being inside but it’s summer and we need to get outside every day unless the weather is really awful, in which case we will build a tent or make muffins and stay in our jammies all day.

4. Downtime is a must. We both need a break from activities and each other.

5. No making Facebook comparisons. Let’s face it, sometimes it appears everyone is having more fun than you. Which is something I hate, damn it I want to be the most fun person in the room but alas there will always be someone having more fun than me, somewhere. And that is OK. And sometimes I might be the one having the most fun, no comparing.

6. We will read every day. I have a great summer reading list picked out for me and I’m working on one for Jack. Reading is so relaxing to me and Jack loves stories I want reading to be a daily part of our summer routine.

7. Time for chores. Sometimes I beat myself up for cleaning or organizing or doing the things that make the house run because I feel like I should be playing with Jackson or engaging in some fun outing. But it can’t be all work and no play, so each week I’m making sure there is enough time for the household chores and even making sure there are some Jack can help with.

8. We will wear sunscreen every day. Jack fights me about sunscreen and I hate fighting about it especially when I’m trying to get us out the door to play. So I’m going to start making sunscreen part of our morning routine and hopefully we can stop fighting about it.

9. We will sit down and eat meals. Granted, I’m not limiting where we will sit whether it be at the park or on the beach or on the living room floor but we will sit down and eat. I get cranky when my blood sugar gets low and I hate meals that are eaten standing up or while we are on the run. So meal times are a must.

10. We (I) won’t over plan. I can honestly say that I really over extended myself this month. and I hate that. I hate feeling like every minute of every day is scheduled. I hate having daily obligations even if they are fun. So going forward I’m leaving some days free so that we can relax and have some impromptu fun.

What are your rules for summer? How do you keep summer fun and relaxing without going out of your mind or over planning?