Welcome to the summer of low expectations

Most years when the school year ends, I take off from work for the first week of summer break. The boys and I have a week of fun. We hit arcades, eat and explore our way through the area, and sometimes throw in an overnight trip to see our cousins in New York.

This year there’s no beach vacation on the horizon. Even day trips will have to be planned with care. We still aren’t doing play dates or spending time with cousins and grandparents.

Our fun will mostly be happening close to home. So, we kicked off summer break by making a list of activities and achievable goals for this stay-at-home summer life. Reading. Video Games. Free play. Board games. Bonding with our birds. Fishing. The list goes on. But it doesn’t go on that far.

Here are a few ideas I have for finding summer fun this year:

1. Make reading worthwhile. Yes, yes, I know, reading is so wonderful that you shouldn’t have to incentivize it. But we pay our children to read, and everyone wins.
2. Something old. We have lots of games and activities in the house that we haven’t played in a while. This will be the summer I’ll be pulling items out of the closet and trying to get people interested in Sorry tournaments. I may or may not be successful, but nothing drives children to come up with their creativity like a mother who’s chasing them around the house with a pack of Uno cards.
3. Something new. Apparently bicycles and inflatable pools are the new toilet paper, but there are plenty of other items you can find for summer fun—fuse beads and bubbles and Play Doh and Wiffle balls. Our boys are 10 and 12, so I’ve just ordered a badminton set for the backyard. I’ve decided that if we aren’t traveling or paying for childcare or much gas this summer, we can probably spend a little bit on stay-at-home fun.
4. Something borrowed. Our neighborhood Facebook group seems to be having an informal puzzle exchange, and people are always putting out toys they’re discarding. I called my parents to see whether they have that old croquet set that was in their garage. It’s probably long gone, but we have borrowed a puzzle from them, and as soon as someone says, “I’m bored,” I’ll be ready with a puzzle and book suggestions.
5. Expectations few. The key to this summer is going to be simple fun. I am going to push them outside for at least a portion of every day. Maybe they’ll build things out of paper plates and tape or make up a game in the backyard that only makes sense to them. Maybe they’ll learn to make Rice Krispie treats or just eat sugar cubes off the floor. I am going to try not to have high expectations for anyone—especially me.

This morning I jokingly announced that it was Robin Hood Week and handed each boy the cheapest bow and arrow sets you’ve ever seen. They strung the bows and played with them for a bit. Just before lunch I noticed one of the boys had robbed the fridge and was eating a package of chocolate chip cookie dough by the handful. I found the uneaten dough on the “reading list” I had created.

I threw the dough he hadn’t eaten on a pan and baked cookies in the middle of the day.

And I couldn’t help but smile. Summer break, my friends, is clearly off to a great start. I hope yours goes well, too.

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