Making the Most of Summer!
Which stage of parenting are you in? Littles? Middles? Bigs? It’s sobering to remember we only have 18 summers with our kids before they become adults!
I am not a homeschooling mom, so summer break is the only portion of the year when all our daughters are with me all day, every day. I want to view this time of the year as the gift it truly is!
I love the rhythm of the year because as summer rolls around, our family is typically very ready for a break, extended time together, and a slower pace. By the time school begins again, we are all craving a routine and a different type of structure. When we transition to the fall season, it helps me to remember we have weekends, evenings, days off of school, and other breaks sprinkled in, so there are still plenty of extended times together during the school year. But summer remains my favorite time of year. Therefore, I don’t want to miss out on any good gift God wants to offer our family, especially during this season!
As summer break rapidly approaches, I have learned for our family the key to enjoying summer is to have an intentional plan. Otherwise we can forget to communicate our expectations with each other and then end up awkwardly fumbling through the transition into a new schedule, neglecting to spend our time the way we purposefully desire to invest it!
Multiple times I have made the same mistake. I was thoughtless through a transition and it resulted in disappointed feelings and regret for what could have been. Eventually I came across a wise verse that offered a better solution:
“the upright give thought to their ways.” Proverbs 21:29b (NIV)
I want to live in an upright way. (I absolutely have to ask the Lord for His strength to do this, but He faithfully supplies it!) So if upright people give thought to their ways, then I want to give thought to our family’s way for this summer.
I recognize this requires a bit of sacrifice upfront. Finding time to vision cast for summer doesn’t happen without intentionality! It may require a babysitter or a pause on other important tasks in our life in order to spend time planning, preparing, and prioritizing how to make the most of summer this year with our family. However, I would like to propose this sacrifice is 100% worthwhile!
Another huge benefit is the time we invest now will pay off in years to come! I like to return to the ideas I landed on from Maximizing Your Summer as a Family as we prepare to enter into this summer. I hope your investment now also saves you time in summers to come, while multiplying your joy and delight in the journey!
Want to join me in giving thought to our ways for this summer?
Even if you aren’t doing this process to plan for your family, you can adjust it to plan for yourself or plan with your community ways to live intentionally in the next 90 days. Whoever you choose to process with, let’s go through some steps to help us prepare for a well-stewarded summer!
These questions and encouragement will be broken down into four categories: Reflect, Vision, Practicals, and Do!
We will cover the first two parts today and pick up with the final two sections tomorrow.
Reflect:
What have we enjoyed most from previous summers that we want to replicate?
What errors from years past do we want to ensure we do not repeat?
What rhythms promoted the most growth and maturity in our family in years past?
What have been a few worthwhile ways we have spent our time in past summers?
How well have our routines matched our values the past 90 days?
What are we most grateful we have done in previous summers that we are reaping the rewards of now?
Now that we’ve learned more by looking back, let’s transition to looking ahead!
Vision:
Before diving into these questions, I like to first learn more from the wisdom of others. I would like to recommend these podcast episodes: Ways to Enjoy Summer with Your Family and Making Family Memories. I re-listened to both of these episodes this morning as I worked out and got ready for the day. They reinvigorate me with fresh ideas as I prayed and asked God to reveal to me a fresh vision for the upcoming months.
If you prefer reading, here are some articles that may inspire creativity as you catch a vision for your months ahead:
Maximizing Your Summer as a Family
Family Sleepovers: What, Why, and How?
How to Enjoy Road Trips with Young Kids
7 Ideas for Screen-Free Time with Kids
In addition to learning from these ideas, you can also process a few questions to clarify a vision for what is ahead. This is my favorite part of the process, so I will include plenty of options for questions to consider!
What is the one thing that I am most looking forward to this summer? (Ask every family member this question and aim to plan, prepare, and prioritize ways to make this to happen for everyone)
What are some ideas for planting seeds of faith in our children this summer?
What relationships do we want to assign highest priority to this summer?
What character traits do I want to intentionally cultivate in each of our children (and in myself)?
What are some life-skills I want to teach our children this summer?
Are there any skills our children want to develop, such as sports or music or artistic endeavors?
How much sleep do we want to prioritize?
When will we build in a rhythm of reading? (audiobooks, read alouds, and reading alone - both for kids and myself?)
What is our list of books we want to read personally or as a family?
From what we learned in the episode on Practicing Sabbath, what do each of us find delightful, restful, and worshipful that we want to incorporate into our weekly rhythm?
What is our plan to steward technology this summer, for ourselves and for our children? (This episode may assist you in making wise choices: Mastering Technology so It Does Not Master You)
What academics do we want to continue throughout the summer months?
When we look back on summer 2022, what do we want to say was true of that season?
If we are together more during the summer than we are the rest of the year, how will we build in breaks to refresh and enjoy one another more?
I remember one Sunday worshiping together with our family. We had squeezed into a bench that did not comfortably fit all of us. When we stood to worship and raised our hands, we were bumping into each other and stepping on each other’s toes. I felt like God spoke to me in that moment and revealed the wisdom He offers in space. Our family had been in a season where I felt something was off, so I scheduled more and more together time, when really God revealed He was inviting me to do the very opposite: some intentional breaks and space and time apart so that we could appreciate one another more deeply and enjoy this rich season we were in more fully. He always has the most unexpected lessons to share!
In another season, when something again felt off in our family, God gently reminded me that we had strayed from protecting one night of margin per week that we call “Family Night.” This is our night to delight in each other and bond through play. Whether we are playing Skip-Bo, frosting cookies, or making our own lip balm, it is a night of delight and we were missing out by not scheduling it. During that season, He was calling us to more togetherness.
There is no formula! What is He inviting you into? Ask Him! He has the best and most creative answers and He designed you, so nobody can respond better with what is most fitting for you.
Once we have a vision, we are motivated to actually make this happen. The next step in the process is to plug in practical logistics and solutions.
We can pick it up here tomorrow!
Until then, I hope you enjoy filling up on ideas so that you can pour out love and create lasting memories with the people in your life who mean the most to you! My hope is for this thoughtful preparation to spark the love of Christ in each of us, to share with others!
I look forward to chatting with you again tomorrow!
Sincerely,
Laura
About The Savvy Sauce
Practical chats for intentional living
A faith-based podcast and resources to help you grow closer to Jesus and others. Expect encouragement, surprises, and hope here. Each episode offers lively interviews with fascinating guests such as therapists, authors, non-profit founders, and business leaders.
They share their best practices and savvy tips we can replicate to make our daily life and relationships more enjoyable!