Summer Break: Week 3

Summer is in full force and of course us mothers sometimes struggle to find "things to do" with our little ones.  This is our 3rd week summary...

The other day I read an article on the Huffington Post (aka one of the most liberal and BS sites I know) about having "no plans" for summer and how we should let kids just be kids. While I agree with some of what the article says about not having kids do homework and worksheets in the summer (although my kids love those!), I also think the mom who wrote it was reflecting on her lack of creativity and just being mean and cranky about camps and such....what is wrong with those? what's wrong with having plans? I am one of those moms who agrees with structure (which she was attacking); I think enriching activities are great for kids and some children (like mine) really enjoy being part of that kind of stuff and living the experience of a summer camp where they can make friends and learn new things as opposed to being home with me or going to the pool/beach every day.... we live in South Florida so sunny days are not exclusive to summer!

Us mothers often find ourselves running out of ideas for games, activities and such and that leads to suppressing the creativity in our children; oftentimes we take the easy way out and the kids end up propped in front of a TV, iPad, cell phone, etc... face it.. we all do it!

So this week I challenged myself to get more involved with my children while encouraging their creativity and with the help of a list provided by my friend Martyna (owner of South Florida Montessori Academy) I embarked on my challenge. 

Here's the list if anyone cares to use it (you can click on the picture to make it bigger)

Here are some of the things we did this week:

1. Play dates with friends, which included backyard picnics with *healthy* snacks.....

2. Playing dress up

3. Celebrated our cat's 8th birthday and even fed her sardines! 

4. Lunch dates with family members we rarely see...

...this included a rare meet-up with our niece Isabella, who was en route to her new home in Ohio.  We met with her and her mother during their Miami layover.  It was great to see the girls playing with their cousin and bonding over ice cream.  We have only been able to see her twice since she was born, once when she was 6 months old and now.  She celebrated her 2nd birthday yesterday so we *almost* spent her special day with her...

5. Puzzle making

6. Selfie taking...

7. Cupcake munching...

8. Tea parties...

9. Scooter riding...

Additionally, we took walks, played hair salon, got homemade manicures, had dance parties, played tennis and much more.  It was such a great thing to get the kids out and apart from their electronics.  They also attended their part time art camp and made some more masterpieces! It was a great week and we really enjoyed our time together. 

I encourage all moms to try some of the activities on the list.  I am sure most of you already do TONS of things with your kids, but it's always a great idea to challenge ourselves to do even more!

We sure enjoyed our week 3 and are looking forward to more fun ahead!

Happy Summer!