SAHMs: how do you fill the time during summer?

[jen2207]

Last summer I had a high school girl come two days a week in the afternoon to take my two older kids (then 7 and 4) to the park or swimming or library etc. My baby was only 1 and had afternoon naps each day - so this just helped my older kids feel like they had something to look forward to doing that was special.

Sometimes I would have the girl meet us at the pool and I would just take my baby home - other times I had her come to my house and stay with the baby while she was sleeping and I'd take the other two out for ice cream, or to play mini-golf etc.

It was only a couple of hours a couple of days a week so I paid her a small amount and it is the times that my kids and I remember most from last summer.

 

[holly7347]

I have 2 DD's 5 and 3. The 5 year old was in preschool 4 mornings a week and the 3 year old was in preschool 1 morning a week. It will certainly be a change for us all to be home together. Last year it was simplier because the then 2 year old wasn't as vocal and insistent we do everything she want, and my 5 year old has a new annoying habbit of finding out what her little sister wants then she wants the opposite. Well if DD#2 wants to watch Tom and Jerry I want to watch Dora, if she wants pizza I want peanut butter, if she wants to go to the zoo I want to go swimming. She will even have something picked out to do/watch etc and as soon as little sister says yes lets do that she changes her mind. I may lose my mind before the summer is over.

But things we frequently did last summer were
zoo
pool
childrens museum
local sprinkler park
picnics at a park - lots of parks around here so we switch it up to keep it interesting
they love washing my car in the driveway, just put on swim suits give them some sponges and a bucket of soapy water and they are in heaven
free movies - our local movie theater has free kids movies one day a week during the summer - it gets quite crowded but we did do it a few times last summer if it was a movie we hadn't seen yet or it was a crappy weather day

DD#1 also fell a bit behind this last quarter of school so I have workbooks and flashcards for her to help keep her learning during the summer. She loves doing them so I hope it helps.

I do work part-time in the evenings when DH is home with them. He frequently takes them outside and chats with the neighbors while they play with neighbor kids. Unfortunately that isn't something I can do during the day as they all work and the kids are in daycare/camp etc. We do get together with their cousins a few times during the summer. We used to all meet up at the local sprinkler park. But the sprinkler park is run by the city and this year they have decided to only allow city residents to use the park so even though we can get in their cousins who live in another city won't be able to go with us. So we need to come up with other ideas to get together with them.

 

[DawnM]

We hit the books as hard as we can all summer long so that we can go on a nice long vacation in October when everyone else is in school.....the beach to ourselves, less crowded Disney, etc....

Dawn

 

[dizneychik]

My daughter just graduated PreK where they are reading. So the books that were not complete in class were sent home for her to continue to practicing.
Her teacher also sent home worksheets that were not complete during the school year.
She also works on her addition note cards and coloring sheets and we spend about an hour and a half to two hours at the park.
She began cheer baby last week and ballet/jazz as well. She goes to both classes once a week at the Rec center. If you have one near you you should check it out. It only costs $25 for 5 weeks of class. So for both classes we spent $50.00.
I also bought a placemat of the solar system and the United States of America.
My DD loves to learn so I wanted to keep her on schedule if not she gets bored easy and gets into trouble. We also only let her watch tv at bed time. We also work out with her. Walking the track/Hip Hop Abs or Billy Blanks just so we can be ready for Disney in July!
And of course trips to the grandparents and aunts/uncles homes are scheduled.
I really haven't put the schedule down on paper because things can always change. Luckily I choose my hours so I get up before she does and work a couple of hours (otherwise she would not let me work in silence-which it has to be when my phone rings).

 

[rt2dz]

Various things we do:
Vacation Bible School, Day Camp, Museums, Pool, Park, Playdates, Zoo, free movies (AMC) or dollar movie (Cinemark), story time, picnics.

I try and make sure we get out twice a week. We have Field Trip Fridays were we do something BIG on days they don’t have VBS or Day Camp (try for one of those a month for my sanity). I switch weeks with some of their friends for drop-off playdates (again, my sanity). I get rid of my kids for 3 hours one week, the next week they all have friends over; it’s a full house, but they stay occupied and out of my way. Then we try and spend mornings out (park, pool) so they get good and exhausted and do quieter activities—coloring, reading, even watching a movie, we’ll bake cookies or a cake. They take some down time and then we go to the Y, so I can work out and they play some more. My kiddos are more active and watch less TV during the summer than the school year.

I put some of this stuff on a calendar (like Field Trip Fridays) and then I put other activities in a jar. We pull those out on a as-needed basis. Sometimes things pop up, so I want to be flexible.