Kids’ Summer Lists - How to keep away “Mom! I’m bored!”

This month I’ll be focusing on answering your questions you’ve asked through social media. This is one I get often! What about kids and summer time? Can you share your Summer Lists with us?

Summer time is here! It’s an exciting time where many of us plan vacations or plan to visit family since the kids are out of school. But for many of us this can be a stressful time BECAUSE the kids are out of school. Like many of you, I work from home. So for the summertime, I work from home with the addition hearing “Mom! I’m bored!” often during the day.

I have a 15 year old and a 6 year old. Because of the age gap I have to create different schedules and lists for each of them.

Here are my tips on keeping the summer boredom at bay.

1. Create a schedule, but keep it flexible.
   I love knowing what to expect in my day and whether they want to admit it or not, our kids do too. However, it’s summertime! If my kids want to sleep in and we don’t have any where to be, I will absolutely let them!
   We do create a schedule, but it is more of suggested plan for their day. This helps to answer “what’s next?” and “I’m bored! What should I do?”
   At the end of this blog post I will link our current summer schedules.

2. Be ready to change. If the schedule you’ve created isn’t working. Change it!

3. Create a mix of fun and work. In our week we provide and opportunity for the kids to choose something fun to do. My 6 year old loves going to the library and my 15 year old prefers lunch at his favorite burger place. I let them choose one thing (within reason) each week to go and do.
   I do use this time to help them learn household tasks. They have their regular daily chores and then we add one small chore each day. After all, they have plenty of time! We have a master list and they get to choose which they want to do that day. This helps my kids to learn valuable lessons and also helps me get the baseboards cleaned!

4. Commissions. This year we are adding commissions for the kids. If they complete their lists each day, we are paying them a commission for a job well done. They can use this money however they choose. My daughter will probably buy extra art supplies and my son will likely ask for an extra visit to Subway instead of eating a sandwich at home.
   I do feel it is important to note that we make it clear to them that we are not paying them for all of the things on their list. There are certain items that we do just because we are a family. And families work together. We all live in our house and we all help take care of it.

5. Quiet Time. During the summer we institute quiet time. This is an hour in the afternoon that the kids go to their room to read or rest. This is good for them and good for Mama.

6. Media Time. One of the things I hear parents talk about often is how to limit media time, especially in the summer. I might have a more lax approach than some. However, I do require my kids to finish their required chores before they have media time. This makes life so much easier for me. “Mom, can I have the iPad?” “Did you finish your list?”

Creating these summer schedules or lists allows my kids to know what is expected of them. It also keeps me from having to remember what they have and haven’t done.

I print a list out each Sunday evening. You can absolutely laminate your list or use something you already have. Here are my lists. These are super simple! Canva has some great templates if you want to do something prettier.

Elsie’s Summer List

Wyatt’s Summer List

Kid’s Schedule

Here is my biggest tip for Summer and Kids - Do what works best for your family! Your Summer doesn’t need to look like someone else’s. Don’t forget to add margin for the good things in your summer plans.