Do What You Love... Even with Your Kids

I heard  the saddest thing on a random video the other day.  This mom started out her video by saying she was sorry it was so loud at her house and that she was doing her best during her "least favorite time of year with her kids home all day."  I completely cringed.

What if her kids heard her say that?

What type of message does that send?

It was so sad to me.

I know that it's hard one everyone to all of the sudden to have a change in routines when school gets out.  If you stay home, work outside the home or work from home, it definitely changes the dynamic of the rhythms at home.  It takes a week or two for everyone to adjust and then we find our Summer groove.  I'm guessing that's the same story for many of you.  After that initial shock of school ending, Summer activities, camps and outings start up and new routines are formed.

I want my kids to know I enjoy being with them and having them home.  I want them to know that I have things I love to do and that I love sharing those things with them.  I hope they always know I loved being home with them when they were little and that they weren't an inconvenience to me. This is true right now for me as a stay at home mom and it would be true if I was working full time.

I'm home with my kids 24/7.  I'm the one who's in charge of planning our days together.  We have no family in town and the responsibility of child care - pick ups, drop offs, sports, school, activities, etc falls 100% on Kevin or myself.  I schedule all of our fun with friends, sports, appointments, outings and my Jordan Bakery Box business calendar around our family calendar.  After 8 years of parenting, I've found ways to incorporate the things I love into my mom life routines.  

I haven't lost myself in motherhood.  I share what I love with my kids.

 

I saw this quote from @dayswithgrey on instagram recently:

Do what you love.  Even with your kids by your side.

Whitney loves ____________ with her kids by her side.

gardening (the kids have become such good helpers with weeds and watering and planting)

baking (they each have their own favorite recipes to make together)

riding bikes (we love cruising around the neighborhood together)

traveling (family road trips are some of our favorite adventures together)

reading (we love reading good books together)

making friends (we really look forward to meeting friends at the park or doing activities with them)

decorating for holidays (the kids help dust, decorate and design our house for the holidays w me)

making meals (we eat at home a lot and I love making the food they love) 

running Jordan Bakery Box (my kids help me grocery shop, carry in all the groceries, sit and wait at grocery pick up, sell boxes to their teachers and help play with the baby while I build boxes.  It's a team effort to make baking and building boxes happen.)

I'm also totally realistic - it's more work to bring the kids along to the grocery store in the Summer so I often opt for grocery pick up instead.  It's a challenge to bring kids to appointments or meetings so Kevin and I tag team childcare on those days to accommodate our schedules.  And then sometimes you just need some alone time to meet friends for dinner, run on the treadmill, to blog, to play in your golf league or to go to an event.  

 

If you're feeling down, discouraged or overwhelmed at the start of summer with your kids, give yourself a big pep talk and think of all the fun you can have together this year!  Moms really do set the tone for the family.  You can do it.  Make it a great summer for your crew!

 

Do you do what you love with your kids by your side?

How are you finding joy in the extra time together that Summer often brings?