The title, “Summer is closer than you think”, will mean different things to different people.  Some will dream of lazy days and long vacations.  If you’re a working parent like me, though, the idea may make you anxious, wondering what to do with your kids this summer.

I realize it’s only mid-Spring.  Summer seems far away.  But I also realize that a fun and relaxing (for me, too) summer requires planning.  Parents talk, and a hot conversation topic recently has been “how and what to plan for our selves, our families and our kids for the summer months”.  So whether you only have yourself and your schedule to factor, or you have multiple schedules to consider, there are ways to make the process go smoothly.

Carve out an hour, grab your calendar, a cup of coffee and any information you have collected so far regarding travel, summer programs, camps, etc.  Get input from those involved: for example, my sons and I discuss which activities they would choose.  My husband was in on the planning session this year, which was new and great.  Not that he hasn’t cared about our summer plans before, but until recently, Summer was his VERY BUSY WORK season, and I was the main decision maker when it came to choosing summer activities.

We pulled out actual calendar pages (instead of our smart phones or MS Outlook on my laptop), and wrote out activities and ideas on the paper.  This helped us all to visualize our schedule and make decisions.

Some tips to make it work:

Plan early.  Book your events and activities now.  This helps you take advantage of early bird registration rates, ensures openings so that you or your children can attend the activities you wish, and gives you and other adults a chance to request vacation time.

Ask around.  As I mentioned earlier, parents talk.  We share recommendations for great programs, and also war stories from activities that did not go so well.  We set up car-pools now, and share babysitters and travel advice. 

Set your budget.  Activity and vacation costs can add up quickly if you’re not paying attention.  Set a limit, and stick with it.  We are writing checks this week, towards deposits to complete our registration for a number of activities.  Then we pay the balance when it comes due, which helps to spread out the costs and make them more manageable.

Schedule big, important and unmovable events first.  Work, academic events, graduations, annual family vacations, etc. can often not be moved or missed.  Make these necessary items your first priority.  For example, my oldest son has to take a summer gym / health class to make room for certain honors classes in his Fall schedule, so we had to make room for that class before anything else.  We also schedule events for the extended family now, so folks can “save the date”.

Once we documented our big, important and unmovable items, we chose a couple of weekends to investigate for potential trips.  Which leads to….

Fill in the smaller stuff. Fill in the optional but important items like weekend trips or optional camps.  Finally, make a list of optional, flexible activities.  Call them anticipated spontaneity, if you like.  Day trips, zoo or museum or beach days, evening ice cream runs, sleepovers, movie nights, bike rides, etc.  And leave free space on the calendar.  When I was a kid, my favorite parts of summer was biking around the neighborhood with my friends or lying around reading a book.  Come to think of it, that is still the case!

So, spend a rainy Tuesday planning now, so that you can relax later on a beautiful summer day.  It really is closer than you think!