We have officially reached the halfway mark of summer, and I am in total disbelief and also a little bummed. I wish I could say we took advantage of every opportunity to savor the summer season, but alas. In an effort to be authentic, I am going to let you in on my current mood/situation and am ultimately relying on you for some help…but I’ll get back to the help part later. I truly had aspirations of going to the beach every week, riding bikes, boat excursions and backyard barbeques, but it just hasn’t happened. I am coming to grips with the fact that we are just not in a position to do as much as a family anymore. And I’m realizing we’ll never be as flexible as we once were and that makes me sad. I also think Facebook has a lot to do with how I am feeling, but that’s another topic, for another time. The truth is, I now spend most of my days behind a computer or phone working, while my husband travels for work and my daughter makes homemade slime. (Not knocking the merit of slime making, but the novelty does wear off quickly!) Also, the iPad is not lost on my daughter and that makes me sad too. I wake up every morning with the intention to go to the pool or to the beach, but it rarely pans out. While I am grateful to be working from home, I’m constantly distracted, and if Maya’s not in a camp or with a friend or sitter, I sometimes forget to interact with her. She's my only child and that must get pretty lonely. So now feels like a perfect time to commit to doing something summer (ish) with Maya everyday. And this is where you come in. I am making a genuine plea for some ideas, something Maya and I can do together daily that she can look back on a say, “you remember that summer when we did xyz everyday? That was fun!” We’ve already taken a few trips together. So, I’m looking for something simple and inexpensive, something that gets us out of the house for an hour or two and can make us both a little happier. Suggestions? And in reality, I may not be the only mom of a tween that feels like this, so your ideas could help more than just one family. Let me know what you think and thanks for your help!
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Let’s see, you don’t have a pond so midnight frog gigging is probably out. BUT, here are a few childhood memories that I had with mom and dad.
Summer card game! Mom and I regularly played a 4-deck game and kept score. At the end of the summer the winner was treated to a banana split by the loser.
We made homemade ice cream during the summer with dad. His favorite was vanilla. He was old school so we all pitched in and churned while we poured on the rock salt.
Pitch a tent and have a few friends over for s’mores and ghost stories that will make them scream and wet their pants.
Catch lightning bugs and put them in a mason jar as a night lite.
Host a talent contest with Maya’s friends. Make it a full evening with a cookout and then bring on the entertainment. Awards are always welcome.
Start a Lemonaid, cookie stand to collect money for a charity. See how much you can raise until the end of summer.
Become beach flying kite experts.
Go to a cooking class together. Then have friends over and treat them to your new dish.
Make tie-dyed shirts together.
Nothing better than a little friend game of badminton.
That’s all I got for now!