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Thursday, June 30, 2011

5- Fifteen Minute Summer Sabbaticals...with your kids!

"I'm bored!" Two words that can cause the most even-tempered parent to lose their cool.

My husband usually responds this way, "You're bored because you're boring!"

He's such a cool drink on a hot summer's day. The truth is, with children being plugged in, turned on and tuned out, coming up with things to do that strike their fancy can often times be a struggle.

Here are five-fifteen minute sabbaticals you can take with your kids this summer.

  • Have a picnic lunch in the backyard. Slow-paced summer days don't have to be boring. Slap together a PB&J and throw out a blanket and whalla! Lay out on the grass and practice a few minutes of cloud gazing together.
  • Read a book. Turn off the TV. Put down the iPod. Back away from the XBOX. Slip a hardbound book in your child's hands and encourage them to read a chapter aloud to YOU.
  • Take a walk. We live in a neighborhood filled with children, yet, if you were to walk around our block you'd never know it. Kids are inside being entertained by electronic devices all day long. Get some Vitamin D and bring your children out into the light for a fifteen minute stroll.
  • Write a letter to an elderly relative. Letter-writing is a lost art. Email has become the bully on the block, but nothing will bring more joy to your grandma, great-aunt Melba, or cousin Jimmy, than a handwritten letter from your child.
  • Hand your child a broom. Nothing cures the summer blues faster than chores around the house. I am always amazed at how fast their creative juices begin to flow when we give them something to do that includes PineSol, Windex, and some good ol' elbow grease!



3 comments:

  1. Great suggestions! You're right -- we need to go out more too (other than to the pool). It has just been SO hot here in NC.

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  2. Loved this! Planning to link to it from the Laity Lodge Family Camp website. Thanks!

    PS - I found you through The High Calling Network. Thanks for being a part of the community!

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  3. Hi, Joanne!

    I purchased your book along with my homeschool curriculum this year. Last year was our busiest year ever! I'm a wife, homeschool mother to 5 children (ages 8 and under), and I'm currently in misery dealing with my first trimester sickness. YEP - # 6 is on the way!

    In many ways I've gotten better over the years by learning to say no to many volunteer roles, but I seem to say yes to way to many children's activities.

    We are starting school in a week. The start of school also marks the return to many children's activities, especially activities at church - choir, missions programs, Boy Scouts/American Heritage Girls, etc. I have 1 boy and 4 girls. My girls have never asked to play sports - SO thankful!! But our son played baseball for the first time this past spring. He's very athletic and turns out he was a very good ball player. Now he has the itch and wants to play EVERY sport possible. WE WILL NOT be saying YES to everything, but I still think that saying YES to some things may be in order.

    I'm on Chapter 15 in your book, and LOVING it!! I've been waiting for the part of your book where you tell us what the year after your radical sabbatical looked like. BUT, I'm feeling like that chapter might have accidentally been left out. :)

    So, please, please tell me...

    What did you add back in?

    I'm confident that you did not jump back into everything, but surely you added somethings back?

    How did you decide what to add back?

    If you would be willing to answer these questions, I would be so grateful!

    You can email me at jmminor at hotmail dot com

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