June: Gone too Soon

It has been one month since summer vacation started and, surprisingly, I'm not counting down the days until they go back to school. I deliberately did not enroll my kids in any summer programs. “Why?” You might ask. Because I wanted to cherish a quiet summer together without rushing around to their activities. What would you do with four little kids during the long summer days?

I'm a believer in boredom. When the kids get bored they come up with the best games and pretend play. I get the pleasure of seeing their imaginations. (However, mud slide runoff wasn't a pleasure to clean-up.)

I love having all the kids together. I gave them the best gift in each other, so why wouldn't I make them spend all summer together? I want them to have memories of playing with each other. I'm also forcing them to problem solve their own squabbles, which usually involves my 2-year old girl yelling at her older brothers.

I want my kids to think of summer break as summer recess. I want them to do things that are completely different from school. So it might surprise you to hear that I do a calendar each day. The calendar is more for me to keep from turning on the TV. It doesn't take much imagination to turn on the TV or iPAD, so when I write science on the calendar I plan things like putting Coke and Mentos together. Things that they haven't seen at school yet, but might in the future. I want to be the first person to show them.

When we moved to this homestead last year, I didn't realize the great opportunity it was for our children. I can't imagine what our summer would have been like living in town. The exploring means they find butterflies, caterpillars, toads, deer tracks, and sprinklings of flowers. The pig, chicken, and kitty chores every morning and night is just icing on the cake.

My kids are growing up fast enough, I don't need to enroll them in summer activities to speed that along. Once they start activities there is no turning back. I'm not prepared to start at the age of 6. They will have plenty of time for that in the years to come.