I do love the summer time! There is a certain excitement and joy that fills the air. A freedom that surrounds us. The children have a break from school. Some parents have a break from preparing school lunches or enforcing homework routines. BUT, there are new struggles during the summer months for many parents.
Here is a Summer Survival Guide for Work at Home Parents
Most parents that I have spoken to recently need a survival guide for the summer, regardless of whether they work at home, away from home or are a stay at home parent. When routines change, it throws us all “off” and it is hard to survive sometimes. Don’t you agree?
Or perhaps you are one of the few parents who THRIVE during summer time, because I know some of you are out there too. If you are reading this, let me tell you that I would love for you to share your tricks with us!
Here are my top 5 Tips for surviving the summer as a work at home parent:
- ROUTINE – Children thrive off of routine and it may come of a surprise for you to hear that many adults do too. Summer often throws us all off because our regular day to day routine disappears. There is no gradual change either, it simply stops in its tracks. It ceases to exist and we find ourselves desperately trying to hang on to what once was there. I encourage you to find a new routine as quickly as possible. Of course, summer is all about flexibility with vacation and socializing, but as much as possible, discover your new routine and stick to it as much as possible. This includes bedtimes, meal times and more.
- CHILDCARE – If you are a work at home parent who has some flexibility, but still needs to work full time hours, you will likely need to find some childless days or hours each day in order to survive. Childcare in the summer time can come in many different forms including:
- day camp
- library programs
- neighbour swapping
- family members
- QUIET TIME – On days when my children are home all day with no child care or specific activities scheduled, our routine is to have a quiet time after lunch. This can take many forms including a nap, reading a book, watching a movie or participating in quiet activities. It doesn’t matter how old my children are, we have quiet time. This is a time when I can get some work done and they can have such down time in the heat of the day.
- NEW ACTIVITIES – Depending on the age of your children, they can likely spend a large amount of time playing outside. If they are young, you might work outside while they play. As they get older, they can graduate to a backyard, front yard and local park. But, there will be days where the weather is not conducive to outdoor play. This is when new activities come into play. I encourage you to search for free colouring pages, pull out the board games and encourage your children to use their imagination (e.g. build a fort, play restaurant). When in doubt, I hand my kids a Norwex cloth and tell them to get to work! Believe it or not at 7 and 11, they still do enjoy this on occasion.
- PROMISE OF A FUN ACTIVITY – I often will set out specific work time and let my kids know that once I have had that time, uninterrupted, we will do something fun together. One activity that my children LOVE is to create things in the kitchen. This summer, we are going to make a ton of different smoothies as I am really trying to encourage healthy eating. We often add a powder to our smoothies and one of my favourites is the ND Shake for Kids.
What are your summer survival tips for work at home parents?
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I feel so lucky to have my kiddo signed up for summer day camp RIGHT ACROSS the road from our house…..we never had it this easy even living in the city.
Routine is a must!
That is AMAZING Laurie!
Ty! Just had a swing set assembled….so when she’s not at day camp, she’s swinging away and enjoys the quietness! This summer is going a lot easier than I’d first thought 🙂
Oh a swingset is so much fun! How old is she again?
She’ll be 4 in a few weeks! Summer camp has come to an end…..time to get creative to fill up our days!
That is AMAZING Laurie!
I feel so lucky to have my kiddo signed up for summer day camp RIGHT ACROSS the road from our house…..we never had it this easy even living in the city.
Routine is a must!
Love the tips! I shift gears a little with my work in the summer because I am a stay at home mom of 3 boys we spend lots of time at parks and beaches but I use this time to build, connect and strengthen new relationships….it helps to expand my network of not only mommy friends which we can never have enough of but you just never know how we can all help each other out professional or personally.
Enjoy your summer everyone!
That sounds like a fun summer, Misty! And I LOVE your business mindset – a simple shift for the summer months, but continuing to move forward in your business – smart lady! Thank you for visiting.
Love the tips! I shift gears a little with my work in the summer because I am a stay at home mom of 3 boys we spend lots of time at parks and beaches but I use this time to build, connect and strengthen new relationships….it helps to expand my network of not only mommy friends which we can never have enough of but you just never know how we can all help each other out professional or personally.
Enjoy your summer everyone!
For the parents that home school, I have no idea how they do it, because they do not get the summer off, I would be pulling my hair out..lol but that’s just me
Some great tips here. I agree that routine is important.
routine is everything! okay not everything, but when my little guy gets off his sleep routine is sure feels like everything haha. great tips! thanks for the read
lucky for us, our routine hasn’t changed…..not sure who thrives better with routine, my kiddo or myself lol
Routine would be a very important factor
Those are great tips,i would think its a big job to Home School
Routine is so very important!
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