Summertime is the best time in a child’s life, but for parents, it often means finding things to do with your kids so they don’t run rampant throughout your home or drive you crazy. However, when the weather is extremely hot, it limits the number of things you can do with your children, as you don’t want to risk heat stroke or sunburn. Thankfully, though, there are plenty of ways you can get ready for a summer with kids to make you and your family more prepared.
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Create a schedule.
Sometimes the best and worst thing about summer is that there’s often no schedule. Kids don’t often have a set bedtime or a set time to do anything else, and this can create chaos (and make it so much harder to get them back on schedule when school starts). While it may sound fun and easy, having some type of set summer schedule will ensure everything stays a little more organized. For instance, you can still set a bedtime for your child. It’s also a good idea to have some type of itinerary, such as how much screen time they’re allowed to have, how much exercise they should get, how much reading they should do, etc. While it will take some time for you to create the schedule (and while your kids may be a little bit in disagreement, it will still be beneficial to everyone in the end.
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Prepare your yard.
Chances are your child will spend most of their outdoor activities in your yard, so it’s a good idea for you to prepare your yard ahead of time. For instance, be sure to clean up any debris that may have moved into your yard from the winter. If you have things that need to be fixed, such as a swing set or pool, then it’s a good idea to put these as priorities. If you live somewhere the weather gets hot, such as California, then you may want to consider adding areas of shade for your children. Picking a company that offers patio shades in Sacramento for instance can help you have a nice outdoor space where your kids can play and stay cool.
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Pre-plan activities.
There are plenty of activities for your child to do during the summer, but if you wait too long to sign up, you could find yourself either being unable to register because it’s sold out or spending more money on a late registration fee. Instead of putting yourself at risk, it’s a good idea to pre-plan these activities. Talk with your children during the spring to find out what they want to do during the summer, such as take swim lessons, go to camp, etc. When you have these ideas on paper, you can then determine the best place for them to do these activities and get them registered right away.
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Prepare for bad weather.
If your children like to spend most of their summer days outside, you need to also account for those times when the weather will be less than perfect. In these instances, you need to have plans for indoor activities your children will love. Maybe you can have some crafts as a backup plan or have a plethora of movies for them to watch. Maybe you can set up an area of your house for indoor play that includes things like video games, ping pong, etc. Bad weather doesn’t have to stop the fun, and if you’re prepared for this then you’ll have a better time keeping your kids happy this summer.
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Make arrangements early.
Whether you work full time or have more kids than you can handle, sometimes you’ll need to make arrangements for your child. Whether you have someone coming to watch your kids during the summer, or if you just need someone to drive one of your children to and from practice a few days a week, you want to get this all set up as early as you possibly can. If you wait too long, you may find yourself out of options when it comes to getting the help you need, and this can be a bad situation to be in.
Summertime is supposed to be fun for everyone, but many parents often don’t look forward to it because it lacks structure. However, just because summertime will be a change doesn’t mean you can’t look forward to it and all the memories it will bring for your children.