Let's Have FUN Today!

Any of my fellow parents feeling like they need to work extra hard to make the summer holidays at least a BIT fun, despite living in the times of the Coronacoaster?

I mean sure, most kiddos have already had a huge chunk of time "off" - but it really didn't count, did it?! They couldn't see their pals, nothing was open - even the park was out of bounds!

Honestly, I think our children deserve a lot of credit for getting through pandemic life in one piece - there have definitely been days when my 11 year old handled the whole thing better than I did!

Sure, there was many a wail of "I'm boooored!!" & a few tantrums [on both sides] about home schooling, but ultimately, he dealt with it all brilliantly.

Really, kids deserve the best summer ever for getting through all the weirdness that's been thrown at them, but with everything still topsy turvy, it's easier said than done.
Lots of their favourite places are still closed, summer events they usually look forward to are cancelled & even the things that are usually fun to stay home & do have lost some of their sparkle because they've already done them a hundred times since March!

On the upside, it's a good opportunity to double down on teaching the next generation to appreciate the little things - and to really treasure the bigger stuff they normally take for granted. (Never hurts for us grown ups to remember either!)

Plus, one advantage of all the time spent at home is you might find they have much lower standards for what counts as fun & exciting, at least for a while going forward! 😆

Encourage your little ones to make a "summer holidays bucket list" of things they'd like to do, then get creative in coming up with ways to make them pandemic-life-friendly!

(And let's be honest - manage their expectations ahead of time!)

It's far too easy to let the days slide past in a blur, so make yourself accountable & make having fun a priority!

Try starting a family journal to keep a list of all those little bits of fun you're having - maybe they don't feel like a lot in the moment, but when you look back in a couple of weeks, you might be surprised!

(You could even let your kiddo "rank" each day so that when you're running out of ideas toward the end of the holidays you can look back & recycle ideas you know were a hit!)

I think the best advice is to just keep taking it a day at a time & try to squish at least one fun *something* into each day. (Plus of course, be KIND to yourself, and accept that we're living through some flipping weird times & you're doing the best you can!)

The world might still be all over the place, but there's still fun to be had too.

Would love to hear about what you're doing to keep your kids (& yourself!) sane in the comments 😀