June Worries and Antidotes

 I am really dreading summer break this year. I tried to put together reasons for anxiety and potential ways of making things work better.

1. Transitions to summer

Every year, the first week after school ends is rough. Because kids are done with school and are home while my husband and I are still working, and... I am just afraid that it will be very stressful, with no allowance for personal time. 

Solution: none. I will have a hard time. This is mostly a "me" problem, and has to do with transition from being home alone at least 3 days of the week during the school year (my husband works from home twice a week) to never being home alone during the summer. This is a change from having my alone time guaranteed 3 times a week vs... none

• Think about an alternative way to have alone time..

2. Lack of consistent summer routine

Every week is going to be different. Some weeks, we will be travelling. Some weeks, C has camp. E's schedule is different every week. H has Envirothon until the end of July.

Solution: 

• Have a talk with kids about what they want to do when they are home (my guess: watch videos, eat junk food, and lie around in their pajamas) vs what I would like them to do (make lunches, wash dishes, go on walks, play volleyball/basketball/ping pong/badminton, read). Maybe come to a happy medium.
• Set expectations for when kids are home (NO sitting around the house in pajamas all day long watching youtube videos!!!!)
• Have a discussion with the kids about the expectations ahead of time 
• Have a plan for daily chores for the kids
• Make sure there are books and audio books that kids like 
• School work: all 3 will have some school work to complete
• Sometimes, just putting on my noise-cancelling headphones and ignoring everyone to get my work done (or to have some alone time) is OK.
• Take breaks to play/hang out with kids 

3. H has no camps and no job

Her babysitting gig ended this week. H at home with nothing to do = a ticking bomb. 

Solution: 

• Envirothon will be keeping her busy June and July. 
• There will be summer work for school. 
• She will have daily dive practices during June and July
• She can start preparing for SAT. 
• I will need to set very clear expectations for her (and figure out consequences): helping out around the house, getting outside daily, 

4. Driving kids to/from camps and/or other activities

C has 2 weeks of camp in July. Drop off/pick up times are 9 am and 3 pm. Also, weekly cello lessons.

H has dive team and Envirothon until the end of July. In July, Envirothon team will probably be meeting every day to prepare for Nationals, which means someone will have to drive her to school and then pick her up a couple of hours later, during work hours. H also has weekly piano practice (same as during the year, so no changes there)

E has a job, daily cross country practices, weekly violin lessons,  and plans to have string quartet practices during the summer. 

Solutions: 

• One of the camps for C is in Philly, so she'll be commuting with my husband. 
• E drives - so he can help out with taking the girls to their activities and driving himself around.
• Cello, piano, and dive are in the evening, after work, so easier for my husband and me to split the driving.

How do you deal with transitions and changes in routine from school year to summer?