Your Guide to a Great Summer with Your Kids

June 10, 2013

In years past, as I’ve previously mentioned, I’ve had summers off. This year, I’m a veteran summer working mom. I thought I’d share a few of the tips for helping you have a great summer, ther you’re a working mom or not.

1. Check to see if your employer offers summer flex hours. More and more companies are offering short time flex hour options that can help you maximize your weekends and minimize your time in the office. Be sure to bring in a plan to your personnel office. One mom I know teamed up with a co-worker to switch every other Friday off, coming in early and staying late to make up the hours.

2. Your employer laughed when you asked to flex your hours this summer. Bummer, but that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy some summer fun. With the longer daylight hours, allow bed time to slip into darkness and spend the four extra hours of sunlight to go on an after-work hike, take the kids for an evening swim, or laze in the backyard and enjoy some time in the garden.

3. Talk to your daycare provider about sending a few snapshots of your children’s day. In this age of camera phones and low price data plans, pictures of your children enjoying a slip and slide or jumping into the deep end of the pool are just a click away. As much as I miss being there with my children, having those videos and snapshots are priceless.

Do you have any additional ways to help make summer vacation feel like a vacation even when you’re working all week?

Mandy Dawson is the creator of In Mandyland, an almost daily blog recording her adventures in juggling a full-time job, two active children, four arguing hens, a fluffy bunny, and one ex-husband. A self-diagnosed gardening and crafting addict, she often finds herself gluing together clay pots and trying to discover the cure for brown thumb. When she’s not writing, she can be found burning dinners while she stares off into space with a story idea. She was a regular contributor for Makes Fun of Stuff, Aiming Low, and Six Kitchens, and has been featured on BlogHer and Mamapedia. She is an Assistant Editor for Write on Edge and has had her fiction featured in three anthologies currently available on Amazon.