Summer Planning

As some of you know, this is my first year working in a school. One of the biggest and exciting things of the school schedule is the breaks and time off in the summer. Granted, for my charter school system that looks like about a month and a half. Over the past few days, maybe weeks, I have been questioning myself and asking, What the hell are we going to do during the summer? Am I supposed to get a part time job? Am I supposed to transition into being a SAHM (stay-at-home mom)? Do I keep him in daycare or switch him to a camp? Do we travel? (You know I love this last question, by the way).

These are things that I haven’t had to consider previously, but it is everything that I have been working towards. Before I had Aiden, of course, I liked the idea of working in a school. The time off is something that anyone would ask for. But when I actually became a mom, it became necessary. Growing up, my mom was a SAHM. She spent her days maintaining involvement in our school, serving on the PTA, attending field trips, maintaining overall school presence and advocating for our needs. Dance class and piano lessons filled my routines. Thereafter, it was track once I got to high school. I honestly try to do a hybrid of this for Aiden. Balancing my work schedule, running to cooking class at the Y (we took a break for this session) or whatever activity is in place (currently swimming). I like it this way. I’m busy, he’s busy, we’re all busy. I personally have no desire to be an SAHM. I enjoy working. And this does not imply that SAHMs are not busy—becaues guess what, THEY ARE! However, when I was for the few months of maternity leave, it was cool, but it wasn’t for me. I commend SAHMs for what they do, but to each her own!

Nonetheless, the idea of being a SAHM for the summer freaked me out a little bit. I found myself texting some of my mom friends, who too are in education, asking them about their summer plans. Daycare, camp, what are we doing? There are options, but some have multiple kids, while others have one like me. Again, I was scared. Me and Aiden, home together and spending all of this time? I’m laughing as I write this, but my kid is everything. This may sound bad and some may understand, but going to work is the break that I need from parenting. It is a part of my identity and without it, who am I? Being a MOM is enough, but I enjoy what I do with both my child and while I’m at work. He is my priority and that can never be doubted, but this is one of the adjustments that I have not had to make yet—being home during the summer.

So here I am in March, attempting to make a decision about the planning for the summer months. After days of considering different options and scheduling, I decided that I am going to pull the plug on daycare for the summer. Honestly, we both need a break. There will be things discussed specific to daycare in another post, but for now, a change in routine will be good for the both of us. I plan to structure our summer days with tons of fun activities and learning. The YMCA that we frequent has a summer day-camp program designed just for Aiden’s age group. It’s only 2.5 hours, but it’s the perfect amount of time for me to get some stuff done and have time alone, while Aiden gets to have structured time in a different setting to socialize and be around a different group of kids than he’s used to. This won’t take place until late June, beginning of July, but it will be a nice change. Let’s face it, change is good—it promotes growth.

So here’s what my summer will look like if I have it my way. There will be the daily structure of the day camp, paired with trips to the zoo, pool, discovery activities, day trips to Philly, Sesame Place, Dorney Park (have you seen their Pre-K Pass—kids are automatically free 2 and under, but Pre-K Pass=free 3-5 years old). We will always be on the search for FREE activities and you can look out for my announcing them as I become aware of them as well. I’m going to plan a cheap trip to San Diego if the flights are permitting. That way we can get over to the Legoland there. I’m looking forward to the Legoland waterpark opening up in NY, as well (I could be making this up, but I feel like I saw an email about it somewhere).

Let me just say, I truly enjoy my kid. He is BEYOND amazing. His memory is impeccable, he loves to learn and experience new things and I enjoy creating memorable moments with him. He has yet to stop talking about the trip to Legoland. The past few days, I have been working on the anxiety of having all of this time (I’m exaggerating, it’s only 1.5 months) not working during the summer (just wanted to clarify that this was what the anxiety was based in and not actually about being with my child). For the sake of both of our sanity, it is important for our time to be structured and for us to have some sort of routine.

What will your summer routine look like? This is a question for whether you will be working, staying at home or even doing a hybrid sort of schedule.

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As always, thanks for reading!

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