I grew up with a SAHM, and summers had a certain magic that I always assumed I’d recreate with my own kids. But I am a working mom, and I’ve found it’s quite a different situation when summer rolls around. I’m not saying one is better than the other, and the kids don’t know any different either way. But for me, I have to remind myself all summer that my kids are not missing out on anything. They are not having less of a summer than anyone else or than I had as a kid. Their summers are just…different. But I still have some dreams in my head of what summer should be. Over the years as my kids have gotten older, I’ve had to face the reality of summer for my family, and work to find some compromises to my childhood ideals.
Here are a few my family has addressed, maybe you have some you’d add to the list too:
#1: The Pool
The Dream: long lazy days by the pool in my backyard. I sunbathe, ready a novel, and sip iced lemonade while the kids splash and play happily with all their neighborhood friends.
The Reality: I don’t have a pool at my house. Not to mention, I work all day every week day, and my kids are at summer camp all summer.
The Compromise: Summer days at the pool were a very important part of my childhood. They were a summer core memory, and I am not about to let my kids miss out on such a fun and meaningful activity. Since I don’t have a pool at my house or in my neighborhood, we joined a nearby community pool for the past couple of years. It has been great, lots of fun, lots of kids to meet and play with, life guards on duty, swimming lessons on site, etc. And while I do work all week and cannot take impromptu trips to the pool on a random Tuesday, I can make sure we schedule a pool day on the weekend. I can also arrange my schedule to get off a little early one day during the week, and head to the pool around 3pm or 4pm. I have to be intentional about it, but I am willing to put in some planning so we can make this happen.
#2: Camping
The Dream: I take my kiddos camping in the wild outdoors for a week and we trek through the Smoky Mountains with no care in the world except for our next destination.
The Reality: I work all summer and do not have enough PTO built up to take a week off for a camping trip.
The Compromise: Backyard camping! This is especially good if your kids are little. All the fun without the fuss of packing everything up and trekking through the wilderness to an actual campsite. And if anyone gets scared or has to potty, just step inside! I save this for the weekend, but if you’re super adventurous (and much younger than me), you could do this any day of the week and just get up and get ready for work as usual the next day. I highly suggest an air mattress though.
#3: Adventures
The Dream: Lots of day trips to do fun activities with my kiddos.
The Reality: I work and can’t run my kids around to fun activities during the week days.
The Compromise: Find a summer camp that takes them on weekly field trips. My son has done some super fun stuff over the past few summers in camp. He looks forward to it now, and anticipates these trips. Bonus if I can take off work and go with them, but either way, my kid is getting to do fun stuff.
A few other things that scream summer to me that I make sure to do with my kids that anyone can do whether they’re a full-time working momma, SAHM, or anything in-between:
- I keep my freezer stocked with popsicles. Nothing says summer like a popsicle in the evening on the back porch.
- We chase lightning bugs in the evening.
- We grill hamburgers and hotdogs as much as possible.
- I have a huge stash of sidewalk chalk, bubbles, water toys, etc. that we pull out when we’re home to stay cool and have fun. Getting outside and beating the heat while having fun are what it’s all about.
- We stay up a little later than we do during the school year.
- We go to the library. I love reading under a shade tree. This screams summer to me.
In the grand scheme of things, my kids have plenty of special summertime fun, and they will grow up with their own versions of the perfect summer. It’s going to look different than mine did, of course, but that does not mean it’s any better or worse.
