How to Stay Sane During the Summer Holidays
The summer holidays are approaching, which means school is out, and the kids are home! What does this mean for your family, as well as your sanity?
For many, it can feel pretty overwhelming! If this is how you feel, then you definitely aren’t alone. Keep reading to discover our five best tips for keeping yourself and your kids cool, calm, and collected this summer.
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What Does Your Family Need During the Summer Holiday?
Besides quality time, the simple, most basic answer to this question is structure.
School holidays are fun and exciting, as they should be! They can also be pretty overwhelming for nearly every person in the family. Why is that?
Well, we believe that the main reason the summer holidays cause a bit more strife than normal is that most people tend to throw structure and schedules away in the name of summer. School is out, so there’s no need for routines and schedules anymore, right?
Wrong! Kids thrive on consistency and structure, and when their schedules are thrown out the window, they can feel like their lives are a little out of control. Their brains crave routines, even during the school holidays.
Kids aren’t the only ones who need structure. Adults also perform better and experience lower levels of stress if they stick to some type of routine.
Five Ways to Keep the Kids Calm While Carrying on With Summer
So, how can you create more structure while also maintaining the fun and carefree spirit that comes with summer?
1. Create a schedule (and stick to it!). We’ve established that everyone functions better when there is some sort of routine or structure involved. Make your lives easier by creating a summer schedule and doing your best to stick to it. This will look different for every family, of course! Come up with a daily routine that covers all the basics (food, sleep, play) and incorporates the summertime activities as well. It’s all about balancing the carefree summer spirit while also embracing the value and benefits that come from having a schedule.
2. Make learning an important part of their day. Your kids have just gone from learning every single day to letting their minds have a major rest. And yes, while they definitely deserve a break, you’ll often find that their brains turn to “mush” at the beginning of the new school year. To prevent this from happening, consider carving out some time for them to spend learning and stimulating their minds during the day. Sign them up for a summer reading challenge (check out your local library for this one!), play learning games together (like Tiny Polka Dot or Bananagrams), purchase a STEM kit to use at home, or print off summer worksheets that they can do before they start the day.
3. If you’re a working parent, consider putting together a “work basket.” Your kids have also gone from being entertained for most of the day to all of a sudden needing to entertain themselves. Parents, DO NOT feel guilty over this! Instead, create a special basket for each of them (or one for them to share) that they can use while you are working. Make sure the basket is filled with toys or activities that they’ll be excited to do and don’t let them use the basket outside of your work hours. This basket needs to be something that the kids look forward to, not something that they have access to all the time. Make sure to include activities that are kid-friendly and don’t require any assistance. If you aren’t a working parent, put together a “summer basket” instead. You will need some time to yourself during the summer, even if just for a few minutes. Having a basket of kid-friendly activities that don’t require a lot of help from you, will keep the kids entertained while allowing you a few minutes to take care of yourself. You need it! (Check out our Summer Survival Kit for ideas!)
4. Assign household chores. Everyone is on holiday, but that doesn’t mean the house is! In fact, with everyone in the house nearly 24/7, you’ll find that your house starts to look messier a lot sooner in the day. As parents, we already have our plates completely full on a regular basis, and during the summer, our plates are nearly overflowing. Instead of trying to do it all yourself, assign household chores to your kids. Even the younger ones can get in on the cleaning! By assigning age-appropriate chores to each member of your family, you’ll find that the kids will gain a sense of responsibility (even if it does come with a bit of complaining), and your mental health will be better than ever because you aren’t trying to shoulder all the responsibility yourself.
5. Give your kids a break from screens. Your kids will have much more time on their hands now that they’re on their summer holiday, but sometimes that means they have more time on their hands to have electronics in their hands. It’s no secret that electronics can make kids’ brains a little crazy, especially if they have access to it whenever they want. Wondering how you can keep your kids off the screens this summer? You can start by setting screen time limits and preparing easy summer crafts and activities for them to participate in. And let’s be honest… Parents, you could probably benefit from putting your screens away, too!
Before We Wrap Up…
Let’s not forget that YOUR sanity is important, too! We’ve just covered our five top tips for helping the kids stay sane during their summer break, but it’s important for you to be a priority, too.
Here are five quick tips for coping with the summer holidays as an adult:
1. Prioritize “me time.” This will look different for everyone, but do your best to set aside at least 10 minutes per day where you do something for yourself. Read a book, take a quick cat nap, walk around the neighborhood, call a friend, or catch up on your favorite TV show.
2. When planning family activities, remember that the quality of the time spent together is more important than the quantity of time. Do not feel guilty if you can’t spend every minute of every day with your spouse and your kids. Your kids won’t remember how many minutes or hours you spent with them, but they will remember if you were present in the moment with them.
3. Don’t forget to connect with your spouse. You’ll both be even busier with the kids home for the majority of the time, and that could mean your marriage may be put on the back burner. Do your best to keep your marriage front and center, even on harder and busier days. And, of course, continue to schedule your date nights!
4. Create a schedule for yourself and do your best to stick to it. As we discussed above, routine is good for everyone. Yourself included! And it’s absolutely okay to build your kids’ routines around your own.
5. Research popular summer hacks to make your life even easier. A few of our favorites include the cupcake liner + popsicle hack, using a makeup brush to apply sunscreen on wiggly toddlers (or you can purchase a refillable sunscreen applicator), and making easy and healthy snacks for the kids so they aren’t eating junk all summer.
We really hope that this post inspires you to have a fun, more balanced, calmer summer holiday with your family. In the end, all our kids will remember is the happy, simple moments spent together! So remember, you’re doing your best, and that’s all that matters! Happy summer! Remember, you’ve got this! 😊
Before you go, check out a few of our BEST summertime posts!
- 101 Backyard Summer Fun Ideas
- 100+ Quick and Easy Summer Recipes
- Summer Playground Games and Park Hop
- Boredom Busters – Things to Do When Bored in Summer
- And MORE!
And for the parents… 10+ Ideas for Summer Romance! 😉
