schedules, schedules, and more schedules!

Summer vacation is almost here!  

In our dreams, everything is going to go wonderfully this summer...

we will do 1,000 priceless crafts with our kiddos, they will be begging for more time to just read during the day, we will be screen-free all summer long, we will go on day trips that are educational and our kids will come home and write a report about what they learned, the kids will just ask for fruits and vegetables to snack on and will even help you prepare nutritious meals you prepared from scratch, they will pick up toys without you having to say anything,  beds will be made to perfection as soon as they get up, they will tell you they just want to spend time together as a family at home...

Hahaha...if you have ever spent a summer with any kid you know this will NOT be how things will go down!  

 In reality...

you will be lucky to grab a few things out of the recycling for "create your own invention" craft on August 10 because the kids are going back to school in a few days and you haven't done anything crafty and its way too hot to be outside anymore, reading will be forgotten after day 4 of summer vacation because you are just too tired to nag them anymore about it, haha good luck on staying screen-free all summer...that is if you want your sanity, a lot of trips you take with kids will be mostly filled with complaining about being too hot or hungry or tired, the kids will beg for snacks 24/7 without letting up and will complain about any meal you are warming up from the freezer because it is really too hot to cook in the summer, toys will be everywhere all the time, beds will be "made" {aka the comforter will just be thrown up on top of all the wrinkled sheets and stuffed animals that are hiding underneath}, and they will non-stop beg you for friends to come over all the time because they do not want to play with their brother or sisters and if you force them to play together there will be non-stop fighting...

Sounds fun right?!  Are you still excited??

Sorry to say the reality is going to happen no matter what.  My kids will probably fight at some point or even all day long every single day of summer vacation. There will be whining and complaining.  That is just life with kids. 

I have found that the more structure I put into place and the more planning I have done ahead of time, the more smoothly summer vacation goes.  Yes, we are going to try to have a ton of fun, but I am implementing as much routine in our schedule as I can so that my kiddos know what to expect all the time...my kids just do better like this.

So here's some things I have in place for this summer:

First, the fun stuff!

Our Summer Bucket List.  These are all the fun things we are going to try to accomplish this summer!

I will use those ideas on our bucket list to fill in under the different theme days I will use again like last summer.  Here's a link to the printable of this you can use.

Our Summer Schedule

Monday - Make a Memory Monday

(Plan a fun day trip)

Tuesday - Thinking Tuesday

(Storytime & Book Club Day)

Wednesday - Wet & Wild Wednesday

(Just get WET today)

Thursday - Throw Together Thursday

(Day at home filled with Arts & Crafts, experiments, & Cooking)

Friday - Fresh & Fun Friday

(Kiddos Choice Day)

Okay that gives us the fun ideas and a general idea of what we are going to do on each day. Now for a little more structure.Here's a look at an outline of our days. If you look closely, there's a lot of wiggle room...like I know snack time does not take an hour in the afternoon, but it allows me to be more flexible. If your kids are like mine, then they are constantly asking what we are doing next. The plan is to post this schedule and then they can't ask me anymore and they also can't fight me on some things...like going to the gym :)! No, I do not think we will follow this schedule preciously, it just gives a guideline.

Time	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
7:00-9:00	Breakfast, morning chores	Breakfast, morning chores	Breakfast, morning chores	Breakfast, morning chores	Breakfast, morning chores
9:00-10:00	Day Trip	Picture Book Activity	Gym	Arts & Crafts	Gym
10:00-11:00	Day Trip	Storytime at the Park	Gym/Shop	Arts & Crafts	Gym/Shop
11:00-12:00	Day Trip	Library Checkout	Wet & Wild Activity	Science Experiments	Kiddos Choice Activity
12:00-1:00	Lunch - Book Club Read Aloud	Lunch - Book Club Read Aloud	Lunch - Book Club Read Aloud	Lunch - Book Club Read Aloud	Lunch - Book Club Read Aloud
1:00-2:00	Screen Time	Screen Time	Screen Time	Screen Time	Screen Time
2:00-3:00	Snack	Snack	Snack	Snack	Snack
3:00-4:00	Board Game or Lego play	Book Club with Friends	Wet & Wild Activity	Cooking Fun	Kiddos Choice Activity
4:00-5:00	Outside playtime	Gym	Outside playtime	Outside playtime	Outside playtime

Here's a link for a printable to it.

If you are curious about our morning chores {they do have bedtime chores too}, here's a look at what they have to do. They get paid a $1/week for completing all the chores, any they don't get done subtracts $0.10 from their allowance. We have been using this plan for several months now and it seems to be working well.

Here's a look at everyone's chore charts and where they are hanging in the kitchen.  Not the most attractive, but it's hung in a spot we have to look at all the time so I can make sure they are doing what they need to be.

Lastly, here's how we handle snack time around here because it started to be a huge issue with them asking all the time if they could have a snack.  This way they know exactly when they can have a snack and what they can have without asking me.  This is posted on our pantry door.

Yes, I know that's a lot, but it just helps keeps my kids and myself accountable and on track every day this summer...and hopefully things will run more smoothly!

I will let you know how the summer goes!