Moms, are you enjoying the summer? What plans have you made for your family? I’d like to give you some ideas of how to make this the best summer ever for your family.
Here are my seven strategies for making the most of S.U.M.M.E.R.:
Send out invitations to arrange play dates for the children and social get-togethers. The summer provides terrific opportunities to catch up with long lost friends or family members. Take some time to create a list of people you want to see this summer. Invite them over for a cookout, a visit to the pool, or coordinate a joint family vacation.
Uncover easy and simple things to do at home with your family. Blow off the dust from your family board games and play them instead of storing them. Remember the sprinkler in the backyard? Turn on the sprinkler for the children and take out umbrellas to use as shields. Children love this type of water play. Look for easy ways to have fun at home. No gas or cash necessary.
Move every day. Take a walk through your neighborhood or visit a local park/playground. The American Heart Foundation recommends that we take a minimum of 10,000 steps a day. Look for easy ways to move together as a family. Have a family jump rope competition or volleyball match. Write down five ways to move together as a family. Encourage family fitness while having fun.
Make reading a part of every day. Visit the local library and have the children select three favorite books to read over a two-week period. Every day give your children time to read independently (including the picture readers) and also read a story to your children every day. Children who become fluent and strong readers usually do so as a result of others’ commitment to read to them. (Moms, while your children are reading, read for yourself.)
Eat well. The summer is a terrific time to modify diets to include all of the wonderful seasonal fruits and vegetables. Set a goal to eat a minimum of one fruit or vegetable at every meal. For example, at breakfast you might prepare a fruit salad with pineapple, strawberries, honeydew and blueberries with granola. At lunch you could serve raw broccoli, celery and carrot sticks with a light sandwich. With dinner, you could make a spinach, walnut and apple salad. It is really that simple.
Reorganize your home. Clean out those closets and purge the unnecessary. When decluttering, create bins for things to keep, things to donate and things to get rid of. Do you have a collection of toys that are unused? Give your children the opportunity to donate unused items to a family shelter. It will teach a lesson and help reduce clutter in your living environment.
Mia Redrick
Mia Redrick, Mom Strategist is a mom of three, author and speaker empowering one million mothers to practice better self-care. Redrick is the author of "Time for mom-Me: 5 Essential Strategies for A Mother’s Self-Care." For tips from The Mom Strategist visit www.miaredrick.com.
