3 Steps To Your Best Summer Yet!

Long summer breaks can be a bag of mixed emotions. On the one hand there’s sweet freedom from early morning starts, rushing and routines. Eating breakfast in your PJs, lunch and dinner whenever anyone’s hungry. No homework hassles or chauffeuring to after-school clubs and activities.

On the flip-side, you’re on full-time mama duty. Your normal daily schedule’s thrown totally out of whack and you’re missing that vital me time. You get tired of your own nagging voice and by the time school starts again you’re practically burning rubber at the school gates.

A few years ago I decided not to let the summer holidays feel like a roller coaster ride of highs and lows. I broke out my notebook and created a strategy for my Best Summer Yet.

And it worked! Getting clear about what I actually wanted was the key to guiding it in the right direction. The following summer I created printed worksheets and charts based around what I knew was needed.  It became an annual ritual and my summers keep getting better and better. In 2015 I released the SUMMER STRATEGY KIT for parents and kids and it’s been a huge hit with families all over the world. 

Here are 3 Steps to Creating Your Best Summer Yet:

1. Get clear about what you want.

Use the My Dream Summer worksheet and write down your ideal outcome. Get a really clear vision in your mind of the ideal summer you’d like to create.

Next, include your ideal scenario for having some me time to keep you sane. Use the Me Time planner for this! Don’t think about how you’ll make that happen, just get a picture of what kinds of things would feel really good.

Most importantly, ask yourself: How do I want to feel this summer? Relaxed, easy going, connected, adventurous, lighthearted, loving… Write down any words that describe how you’d love to feel.

2. Share with your family.

You’re all in this together. Share your vision for summer and ask what they want out of it. What kinds of things would they enjoy doing? How do they want to feel? You can only support each others expectations when you know what they are. They might want the same things as you, or it could be different. There’ll be more family harmony if there’s clarity from the beginning, with room for compromises and going with the flow of course.

Use the My Summer Goals planner to make it a reality.

3. Make a game plan.

This is the final, vital step. All of those great ideas will remain ideas without an Action Plan. What can you do to make the vision come true?

If you want more help around the house – set up a chores schedule and make it happen. Summer is a good time to create a fresh rewards chart. Hang up some clear, written rules so everyone knows what’s expected. It’ll save you from shouting at your kids. Just calmly refer to the rules – and follow through on the consequences. This doesn’t mean punishment – they simply don’t earn whatever you’ve agreed upon. Ice creams, technology and late bedtimes are earned in our house. You’ll have a lot more sibling harmony if you spend some one on one time with each child too. That can mean cuddled up reading a book, playing a game, having them as your helper as you fold laundry, cook or water the garden together.  Make it feel special for them to get you to themselves no matter what you’re doing.

If you work, set up some clear working hours so you can be super productive during that time, and switch off completely when that time’s up.?Use a fresh My Action List to formulate your plan and take small steps to make it happen.

Want to know my secret weapon for keeping the kids happily occupied so I can have a bit of time to myself each day? Click here for my Boredom Buster! (No, it doesn’t involve handing them an iPad or parking them in front of the TV.) 

Get the Summer Strategy Kit sent to you straight away – you won’t regret it. 

In the comments below, share some key words that describe how you want to feel during the summer. holidays. What would make this your best summer yet? 

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