Balancing Summer Fun with The “To Do” List
Ah, summer. Hands-down, my absolute favorite season of the entire year. And I’m confident my kids love it just as much as I do. Pool parties, popsicles on the deck, county fairs, and bike rides. We love ALL THE THINGS!
But if I’m being honest with you, I have to say that I’ve found one glaring interruption into my family’s dreamy summer days…
The dreaded “To Do” List.
Guys, I’ve recently been starting to see how much I let this nasty bugger run my life. I’m hopping from dishes to laundry to mopping and back to laundry again while barely taking a breath.
And you know who gets the short end of the stick? The kiddos.
I feel like I’ve been using this excuse lately of “I have 3 kids now so everything is hard.” Now, don’t get me wrong. I know it’s necessary to give myself some grace. This is our first summer with 3 kiddos and the youngest is just starting baby food so his independence is a long ways off.
But I also feel like I’ve been using the 3 kids thing as a cop out to some degree. Is it hard to pack up the kids and get over to the pool? Yes. Is it a pain in the you-know-what to even consider taking a weekend to go somewhere? HELL yes.
But I’m learning that what’s sometimes difficult for us to get together, is sometimes the funnest thing in our kids’ eyes.
So, keeping all of this in mind, I’m trying a couple of different things the second half of this summer to see if I can get us back on track toward spending a little more time together and a little less time with the “To Do” list. Here are a few things that I’m trying:
Asking the kids what it is they want to do over the weekend.
Most weekends, I’ve already mapped out exactly what we’re going to do, and then I slip in my To Do’s as the free time. Some weekends are already jam packed with obligations, but other weekends are more open. I’m trying to ask the kids what the one thing is they would like to do over the weekend when we have more of an open one where we can be flexible.
So far, I think every answer has been, “Go to the pool!” so that’s what we’re trying to do. Is going to the pool my favorite thing? Absolutely not. But if it’s my kids’ favorite thing, then I need to be there. And seeing the joy in their eyes makes it a little easier to go.
Whatever it is my kiddos want to do over the weekend, I try to schedule it in. If it’s the pool, then Saturday from 1:30 to 3 is blocked out for pool time.
Obviously know that I’m not some crazy person who does whatever the heck it is my kids ask. But I think if you tried this, you’d be surprised to find that what they really want to do is something simple and cheap, and probably something that doesn’t take that much time. (I say this for young kids anyway. At 3 and 5, life’s pretty simple.)
Setting a time block for the weekend “To Do” List
I love to get everything checked off the list. Like it’s some sort of high for me to achieve the entire list and get it all done. Yes I have issues, but I digress. Anyway, here’s the thing I’m learning as a Mom: There will always be something, and your list of things to do will never really be done.
Ouch. For someone who lives and dies by lists, the sentence above makes me reeeaaallly uncomfortable. The best way I’ve found to get over this is to simply let the list go. I try to set aside some time to pick off a couple of the most important things on the list, and then my goal is to set the list down and move on. Easy, right?
You guys, I’M NOT GOOD AT THIS. I’m constantly looking at things and thinking, “Oh, this will only take a minute.” But after 20 different things that will “only take a minute,” I wind up spending most of my day as a slave to some ridiculous list. Now, not only am I exhausted, but the kids usually end up whiney and feeling a little neglected because, well, they have been.
So now I try to keep it simple by setting myself a cut off time. For example, on Saturday’s, if we have nothing going on first thing, we ease into the morning with a little family breakfast. Then I let the kids have a some free time or cartoon watching time while I clean up breakfast, tackle a thing or two from the list, and get myself dressed and prepared for the day. Then by mid-morning I call it quits on any To-Do’s. That leaves the rest of the day to do whatever it is we’d like to do as a family.
Of course there are still some small things we need to do here and there throughout the day, but I try my hardest to keep away from doing too much. I’m honestly not very good at this one yet, but it is something I’m trying to work on.
Getting the kids involved in a few simple chores.
Makenna is 5 now, and I’m thinking she’s perfectly old enough to pitch in around the house. She doesn’t need to scrub toilets by any means (though that would be AWESOME), but she can do small things like pick up her room, help clear and set the table for meals, and even dust if I take a few moments to show her how.
What I’ve realized is that when she pitches in to help, Colton’s usually not too far behind, asking to help with things, too. (Monkey-see monkey-do is totally a thing when it comes to small kids!)
Getting everyone involved in the few things that need to be done has helped in a couple ways:
- It’s shown Makenna and Colton that we need to get our work done first before we can play, so the faster you get this task done, the sooner you can go do something more fun.
- In a weird way, it makes our morning chore time turn into more of a family thing. We’re all pitching in to help and we’re all working together. (Except for Brooks. See the comment above about him just starting baby food now…)
Overall, my goal is to be a lot more present with my kids for the rest of the summer. I’m already working from 8 to 5 during the week, so I really feel like I need to make spending time with the kids more of a priority. I’m in no way perfect at any of this (not even CLOSE), but it’s something I’m trying to be better at.
As summer draws to an end, my hope is that us Mama’s can spend more time eating a popsicle on the deck, and less time scrubbing the kitchen sink. 🙂
