The Summer Train...

Well, here we are chugging along on our third week of summer vacation.  Summer seems so short to me now that I am a grown up and have kids in school.  I swear, we had more time off as kids.  Anyway, we only have 10 short weeks of summer and we try to make the most of it.  And by "make the most of it" I mean, relax and have fun at home with little to no structure.

I love to take summer off!  No lunches to pack, no schedules to keep.  Just fun (and chores...and reading...and summer goals...and...).

I spent the first few days of summer vacation letting the kids veg out in front of screens while I made lists and charts for our days ahead.  I looked over some of my favorite mommy blogs to get their ideas for summer.  I love seeing what other parents have in mind for their kids during this grand down time.  I love to see how well they know their people and how they structure their time to help their people the most.  I took several ideas from several places (as always) but mostly ended up formulating my own summer plans.

The big kids all set a few goals for themselves (spiritual and physical goals) and I set up a rotating chore chart so the house wouldn't get wrecked.  We scheduled a library day and loaded up on books for summer reading.  Each child was also given an academic area they would need to focus on for the summer (Lorien: Algebra, Wyatt: Writing, Clare: Math Facts).

With our plans in place I unveiled our summer chore charts at the first Family Home Evening of vacation.

So far, so good.  (Almost) Every day the kids read, do a chore or two, get some physical activity and do a little school work.  Then they are free.  Some days our schedule gets flipped, neighbors come over to play, kids go off to visit cousins, or someone has scout camp/girls camp.  But really, so far life is happening and everyone is happy.

Except for the petty arguments are little fights my kids have to have every. single. day.  Those are still happening too...not even Summer Vacation can stop those.