The last day of school!! Everyone jump for joy! I think!? 🙂
Summer is such a fun time of year for families, but it can also be stressful. I will admit, that as a mom, my children do better with a routine. Often during the summer our routines and structure go out the window. This can cause stress on all fronts! When the children are running around wild, the mom starts to get stressed. Not that I’m speaking from personal experience or anything. {grin}
Dear fellow mamas, let’s make a choice this summer to choose joy over stressed out frantic! Are you with me?
What does that mean exactly? How can we choose joy over being stressed out?
Well, every family is unique, but I’m going to tell you what I am working toward for our family this summer! A plan is a must. Let’s be intentional, moms.
Our children deserve a well-earned break! And for those homeschool moms out there, like myself, we need a break, too! But, 24 hours of freedom might be a tad too much for our kiddos to handle.
So, this summer let’s be intentional about spending time with our kids and making happy memories together. Let’s be intentional about including Jesus in our days. Let’s be intentional about choosing to look and find joy in the long blazing days of summer.
4 Ways I’m Planning to Choose Joy This Summer
Make a plan. Instead of trying to fly by the seat of my pants, I do better if I have a plan ahead of time. This doesn’t mean I have a down-to-the-minute plan, but that I have a general idea of what our days will look like. For you, this may be looking at the week ahead and saying, “Ok, Tuesday and Thursday will be at the pool, Wednesday we will go the library and Friday we will get together with friends to play.” Make a plan that works for you!
Offer incentives. Not everyone agrees that incentives are good, so you do what is best for your family! For us, offering electronics as rewards or incentives helps us to be productive the rest of the day! My children will be given a list that requires certain things to be done each day this summer BEFORE getting on their electronics. Read for 30 minutes, clean your room, brush your teeth, do something outside for 30 minutes, etc. Things like this help our kids to know that there is a world outside of their device and that they may even have fun doing other things if they will give it a try! Honestly, we spend lots of days at the pool, so on the days we are home, I’m ok with more electronic time.
Let the messy kitchen go. This one is hard for me. But, I’m going to try my hardest to choose the pool over cleaning the kitchen, playdates with friends over vacuuming the carpet, and heading to the zoo instead of cleaning the toilet. I like a clean house. In fact, often a messy house can stress me out. But, making happy summer memories with my children definitely needs to come first!
Start your summer days with God. During the rush of the school year we don’t always get to start our days together. This summer is a great time to do a short devotional or Bible study with your kids! Turn on worship music in the mornings as you’re preparing breakfast. Find something created for the ages of your children and go for it! It can be simple! I also like reading through one of the shorter books of the New Testament with my kids over a month’s time. Choose a book like James or Philippians, read a few verses each day and discuss! By the end of summer you will have studied a book of the Bible with your children!
A Summer Prayer for Moms
Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for the gift of this summer. Thank You for the days You’ve ordained for us to spend with our families. Thank You for the gift of these children. Thank You in advance for how You are going to draw our families closer together in our relationships this summer.
God, we confess to You that sometimes summer stresses us out. I ask that You gently remind us of the gift of summer. I ask that You convict my heart when I see my children as an annoyance and not a blessing. I ask that You remind me to cherish each moment, even the hard ones, because You are making us more like yourself.
Lord, even on the hard days, remind us that love is patient and kind. Love doesn’t envy or boast, it isn’t arrogant or proud. Love doesn’t insist on its own way. Love isn’t irritable or resentful. Love doesn’t rejoice in wrongdoing. Remind us of Your perfect love. And then, by the power of Your Holy Spirit living in us, help us to love our families in that same way. Convict us when we aren’t patient and kind with our children. Help us to choose better next time.
God, this summer we want to choose joy. We are asking You to help us to make the better choice. Help us daily to put aside our own desires and choose to put our children and our relationships first. With Your help we can be the mothers You have called us to be.
Thank You in advance for how You are going to work in our families this summer. Thank You for for the joyful moments and the days we have with our children. Thank You for being the perfect example of unconditional love. We ask You all these things in Jesus’ Name. Amen.
Summer Checklist
One thing that helps me to be intentional and not allow the kids to just sit around on their devices all day is to use a checklist!
Feel free to print as many copies as you need for your children. Laminate and use dry erase markers each day if your child needs to actually check it off.
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