Summer has arrived and it brings with it all the good, the bad, and the ugly. I love summer. The long days, the walks to the ice cream store, trips to the beach, lazy mornings. There are so many wonderful things about summer, but as a parent there is also a lot of bad and ugly of summer. Without a regular routine, or just a different one kids behaviors can be erratic and not in a good way.
The initial transition to summer can be a little rough for all of us. At our house, the sibling bickering and lack of listening increases significantly. The first full weekend of summer, I found myself waiting for the weekend to be over and for the first day of camp to begin, so I could have some peace and quiet in the house. I knew I couldn’t last all summer. So, come Monday, I sent the kids off to camp and looked forward to my call with my coach to talk about how I was going to survive all summer.
Coaches can help individuals make better career decisions, improve their performance at work, improve their work-life balance, but also help with things like parenting. I spent an hour with my coach talking about the summer ahead and strategizing what to do about the bickering and lack of listening. My big “AHA” from that conversation was that I needed to walk away. The kids really don’t care if they are arguing, but it drives me up the wall. I realized it is my problem, not theirs. I don’t need to try and police their arguments all the time and help them find better solutions, which I had been doing. I need to go in the other room and try and ignore them and let them figure it out on their own.
Day 4 of summer, I am feeling so much better. Sure, the kids are arguing here and there, but I’m not listening and making a ton of progress on my new book (A Place For Us, by Fatima Farheen Mirza). The overall peacefulness level in our house has gone up. I am sure this zen state won’t be everyday, but now I am actually looking more forward to the rest of summer and dreading it less. Bring on the ice cream, trips to the beach, and the rowdy behavior. I have a plan.
What are your summer ups and downs? Feel free to share your advice and ideas in the comments, I would love to hear how other people approach summer.