Here’s the reality, you get 18 summers with your child…gulp! Spend them wisely and make the most of your time as you learn and make memories together. Our four kids are now 18-25 and when they were little the summer sometimes seemed to drag by. The older they got, the more aware I became of how fleeting time can be and determined not to squander precious moments with them. Determine to do things together as a unit. This creates a family bond that will last years beyond the time they are in your home. Here’s some activities we did as a family.

Organize the house – I work better with things being in order and that can be more challenging to keep up with during the school year. Summertime provides extra time to go through all the clothes, toys, garage, closets, schoolbooks, you get the idea. We made a list and as a team we would work on rooms one by one, setting aside the school time for organizing and purging. The items we purged were thrown away, donated, or used in a garage sale.

Garage Sales – One man’s junk is another man’s treasure! Let’s face it, most homeschool families live on one income and try to buy used and save the difference. Garage sales have been such a blessing to our family through the years. My mom was so wise and when she took us out, she gave each of us four quarters to spend or save. What life lessons we learned! Now I know she was also keeping us preoccupied so she could look around. We didn’t bug her to buy anything because we had our own money and budget. I did the same with our kids and they would bring along their own saved coins to add to what I gave them. Our next fun thing to do was to have a yearly sale ourselves. This often funded our vacation, camps, and even the next year’s schoolbooks. True entrepreneurship showed up as they would price their items, organize, and operate the sale with me.

Garden – Well, I’ll just be honest and say that we were not successful gardeners. Instead, we would go to the local strawberry patch and orchard to pick our own produce. This also made for a little field trip and learning experience.

Spontaneous adventure – Staycations don’t have to be expensive or take lots of planning. If you see something interesting, stop and look at it. I can’t tell you the number of times we have pulled over or taken a detour to check something out. Sometimes it was a mirage but mostly it resulted in a fun adventure. Go on hikes, bike rides, fishing trips, and visit all your local parks and playgrounds. Don’t be afraid to try something new and live life through the eyes of your child, while they are a child. Those teenage years will be terrific instead of terrifying if you keep the lines of communication open and share life together.

Work together – When our oldest was young and at the “me do it” stage, she was “getting in the way” of us raking up leaves with her little rake. My husband told her to go play, thinking this would make his job easier. Thankfully, I had just read a book that encouraged parents to let their kids help at this stage while working is fun. We decided that day to always include our kids in our work. We had brooms, vacuums, shovels, and even plastic mowers in all sizes. They loved to mimic and participate in our work, and we let them. Now they are older and still help us without hesitation and have strong work ethics. My job at Rainbow started with working a summer with our daughter before she went to college and now the whole family works here!

Worship together – Now more than ever, this anxious generation needs to have parents who are rooted in their faith. Invest in your walk with God and teach them how to have their own. There is something so pure about childlike faith and I find that it often strengthens my own. It’s not what you taught, but what they caught. What kind of faith are our kids catching from us?

Be able to look back on these summer days and say, “I’m glad we did” instead of “I wish we had.” Now go make some memories! ~ Amber