Enjoying Your Kids Through The Summer

Summer greetings - As days grow longer and the weather grows warmer –we realize that summer is just around the corner. I hear the excitement of kids counting down the days left in the school year as I see the anxiety of parents wondering how to keep their kids busy enough to stay out of trouble during those long days of summer. This need not be a time of dread for parents and can actually be a time of opportunity! Opportunity to help your child stretch and explore – and an opportunity to strengthen your parent-child relationship in new and exciting ways. During the summer, the parent’s role can change and lighten to allow for a renewed relationship of fun and joining. The need to oversee homework and to hassle over grades is no longer imminent. The focus can now turn to ways of enjoying the leisure time off while actually learning a great deal about the world and one’s environment. Consider these ideas:

• Kids love to be on computers: challenge yours to find activities they would enjoy that are cost free or low cost by surfing the Internet. Encourage your child to plan an outing for the family – put them in charge. So many skills can be learned from this activity, which also empowers your child and gives them real credibility.
  
  
• Have your kids be in charge of the day’s dinner: this would include making a shopping list, assisting with the shopping and with preparing the meal from set up to clean up. Again many skills learned here and a sense of pride when everyone raves about the wonderful end result!
  
  
• Encourage your child to be an entrepreneur during the summer: depending on their age, possibilities range from lemonade stands to mowing lawns to helping elderly neighbors do the dishes. Not only will kids earn a little pocket money for these activities, more importantly, kids will learn the greater joy of helping others. There are so many other ways of fostering a child’s growth during the summer that extends beyond the basic textbook learning.

These are life lessons – critically important – and essential to your child’s self esteem in terms of feelings of importance and self worth. Be Creative! Think outside the box! There are so many ways to have a great time with kids during the summer that they will actually buy in to! Don’t be afraid to suggest new things and to push forward even if their initial reaction is “are you serious?” Kids HAVE TO respond as if you have no clue and they think you’re out of it – to maintain their own credibility. Push On!

I wish you a great summer with your kids and a joyous time of renewed adventures. Remember it is not cool for adolescents to let you know they are enjoying what they are doing with you – even if they are loving it! Let them be cool – don’t take things personally – and know that they will treasure and remember time spent with you. Again I invite you to phone or email me should you or someone you know need some assistance through a difficult time.

Warmly,

Debbie Bauer, LMFT

Please visit my website at www.debbiebauer.com

~easing life’s journey~