Retro Summer: Simplify, Slow Down, Connect and Enjoy -

Remember when summers were for less structure and more play? Remember when being bored was what summers were all about? Is it just me, or do we as a society fear boredom?

We are so afraid for our kids to be bored. Why is that? Are we afraid they may actually want to talk to us or ask us to play? Goodness knows we’re too busy for that! We may actually have to slow down and disconnect. We may even be asked to take off our special “I’m busy” badge!

And where did this idea come from that if our kids are bored it is our job, our obligation to deliver them from this evil? I believe it is most likely this false sense of responsibility that has sent us rushing to sign up for every possible activity and reaching for a screen if we’re going to be in the car for more than 10 minutes. (Preaching to myself here too!)

Let’s go old-school, shall we? As a kid in the 80s/90s many of my summer memories are dominated by my parents’ mantra, “Find something to do.” This was always their response to my cry of, “I’m bored.” They never saw my boredom as their problem to solve.

Retro Summer

Welcome to part 1 of the “Retro Summer” series. The purpose of this series (originally published in summer 2018) is to encourage and inspire us busy mamas to simplify, slow down, have fun, and live intentionally with our kiddos this summer. In this series you’ll discover practical ways for moms to recharge, for families to reconnect, and for kids to enjoy the simple pleasure of just being a kid.

Freedom From Busy

Let’s set each other free from the expectation of having every minute planned and every camp attended. Let’s resist the pressure to over schedule and take captive the voices (both internal and external) which say we’re not doing enough.

I know what it’s like to feel condemned the instant I decide to intentionally do nothing. Should I decide to take a chair to the beach and read or to lounge by the pool and allow myself to zone out, it is not unusual to feel that nagging sense in the pit of my stomach reminding me that my to-do list never stops, so why should I?

Well, my friends, the to-do list never will stop. And as moms, very little we do stays done anyway. Whether we stop or not, the world will keep spinning, the laundry will continue to mound, and those mouths we’re responsible for feeding will always be “starving” five minutes after we get the kitchen back in order from the last meal.

Summer Memories

The litany of things we can do, should do, and want to do is never ending. But you know what won’t keep going indefinitely? Our children’s childhood. We only have a finite amount of time to plug in and permanently plant ourselves in their memory banks.

How do you want them to remember their summers growing up? Full of leisure play and creative times, or will they look back on those “lazy days of summer” and say they were anything but? Will they recall being constantly shuffled from one activity to another and wanting so badly to just stop and play or rest, only to hear the broken record of our voices constantly say, “Just a minute. Let me finish just one more thing.”

And will these memories be accompanied with visions of a smiling mommy watching them play and listening to their grand schemes? Or will their mind’s eye see little more than the tops of our heads as we sit bent over our phones? Or perhaps the sight of us snapping pictures to “share” of their fun moments rather than us actually sharing in them?

Let’s Simplify Summer Together

So what do you say? Are you with me? Can we work together to reclaim a time when kids were for play and play was for kids? When summers were comprised of slow mornings, long days, and late nights.

So please stay tuned! This series includes some very special [re]posts from three rock-star guest bloggers:

Blogger, social media manager and mom of three, Megan Ericson, former co-host of The Minimalist Moms Podcast
Podcaster, social worker, and hilarious stay-at-home mom Christina Im, from The IMbetween podcast
Writer, speaker and founder of Hearts at Home Ministries, Jill Savage. (Check out my review of Jill’s book, No More Perfect Marriages.)

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A word to those “working outside of the home” moms:

I have not forgotten you. For those of you with a 9-5 job that takes you away from the house, summer presents its own set of challenges. This will take some creativity on your parts for sure.

Let the flex time you do have with your kids be time of open, unstructured play for them and down time for you. Instead of catching up on social media, catch up on your kids thought lives and secret desires.

Take a chair out in the yard in the evenings and enjoy a book while they explore. Unplug from the world and tune into your kiddos. Don’t feel pressure to entertain them. Rather just spend some time watching them as they discover ways to entertain themselves. (Don’t miss my post, 11 Tips For Getting More Out of Summer By Doing Less. I think you’ll find some easy-to-apply tips in there for you.)