Summertime Kids
by Jo delAmor
Time flies when you have kids! Something most parents can agree on is the unfathomable rate at which their kids are growing. While we engage in all of our adult activities and make sure all the ends are meeting, they are rapidly transforming from babies to children to adolescents and then, of course, into adults like us.
These years and the moments that make them up are everything. In the busy world we live in that is easy to overlook. These years and moments are the blessing of life, they are the purpose and the point of our lives and they are laying an indelible foundation for your child’s life path. Having a rich childhood experience can teach a child how to live life well and enjoy its blessings, rather than just biding their time and accomplishing tasks.
Summer moments go by even more quickly than moments in the rest of the year and can be even more important to your child. Summer is an opportunity for them to deeply connect with nature, to explore, to feel their wildness, to have fun and play, to challenge their bodies to learn new things and to truly be the kids they are.
Summers also have a sneaky way of slipping right by as we desperately try to keep up with our work and meet social obligations while juggling children that are not in their normal school schedule. In order for everyone to enjoy the summer and really benefit from the experience, it can be helpful to take an intentional moment to come together as a family and develop a fun summer plan that will work for everyone. Consider the needs of your child to be able to experience the summer in a fun, relaxing, joyful and age appropriate way as being equally as important as your need to do the same and keep up with work. Invite your child’s ideas about what a fun summer would be like and incorporate them into the family plan. Remember to make time for the simple joys of summer and to share them with your children.
You can think back to remember your childhood summers to reflect on what worked and what didn’t for you. Do you remember summers as being fun and magical? Or were they boring and tiresome?
Give yourself and your children the gift of a great summer. There's nothing more valuable than these precious moments.