Parenting Tip - Summer Goals

How are your Summer Goals coming? 

WHAT?  You haven't made summer goals for yourself or helped your children make summer goals?  Well, let me telling you, you're missing out on an excellent opportunity to get some things done and create a feeling of accomplishment for yourself and/or your children.

I LOVE, (repeat) LOVE to make summer goals.  I have made summer goals with my children when they were growing up each year, and have annoyed their families now that they're adults, by suggesting they make summer goals as a family.  Except this year.  I decided not to force my exuberance onto them again this year--though one daughter reported that she's really excited about doing summer goals with her family.  And a daughter-in-law loves summer goals, too.

I like to make goals during the summer because summer is a concrete length of time.  It has a beginning and an end.  It starts NOW, and ends THEN, depending on where you live and what your school calendar is.
      


When my children were younger we made goals on cooking, reading, learning something new, and music goals.  What a great time to teach your children how to cook a simple meal, or your teenage son/daughter how to plan a menu and cook the meals.

 What a great time to read, read, read.

What a great time to learn something new, like how to play the guitar, or earn a merit badge for your scout or cub scouter.  How about doing family history or sewing or knitting?  One year my sons were so hooked on making bookmarks out of plastic mesh, that one of them tried to sell some to the neighbors because he had made so many.

Don't plan so many activities this summer that your children don't have time to relax, play, swim, or be bored.  Yes--bored children can be creative children and make up the most interesting games and activities to do.

It's never too late to make summer goals--and actually, in some places of the United States, school isn't over yet.  So if your children are still in school, think about making summer goals this year.
Make them simple, attainable, and FUN!

Thanks for reading,

Cathy

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