The Importance of a Laid Back Summer

Summer.

It’s here.

Finally.

That glorious time of the year that brings with it longer days, no schedule, and endless possibilities.

I think I’m one of the few moms out there that relishes this time of year. I hear so many other moms talk about summer with despair.

What am I going to do with them all day?

When does school start again?

It’s just sooo long…

And I totally get it because it’s inevitable that the first day in, and I’m already hearing, “Mom, I’m bored”.

Cue me saying, “Go play” fifteen times in a row.

There’s also the constant fighting between my kids.

And the long days full of nothingness.

BUT…

I love it.

Around March, even after we get Spring Break, I’ve had it. I’m just done with school and activities and homework. I’m tired of sprinting out of bed in the morning, rushing to get shoes and uniforms and binders in order for the day. I tire of my own voice saying, “Hurry up.”

Pretty sure that’s all my kids are going to remember about me.

Remember that lady who bossed us around all the time and wanted us to hurry at everything? Yeah, mom award goes to me.

But summer changes all that.

I become the mom that doesn’t want to rush. I’m aware summer will be over before I know it and soon we’ll be rushing through the mornings again. That’s why it’s so important to me to have a laid back type of summer with my kids.

During the school year life is so hectic and full, which is amazing in its own right, but the summer is a time to relish in the slowness. It’s a time to take time and make memories.Just when I think I’m about to lose my ever-loving mind summer comes sweeping in like a handsome prince on a white horse.

Summer allows me to have freedom.

I feel calmer (somedays…) and more spontaneous. I’m more than willing to get carried away with random plans or stay up later with the kids. Other than work we’re not scheduled out every single day of our lives.

But it’s more than that…

I think it’s vital to our lives to have a laid back summer.

It reminds me what life is truly about.

It’s not about deadlines, activities and hurrying. It’s about cherishing moments with my kids (the ones who seem to be growing faster every second). It’s about taking a second to breathe. Or to look up at the sky and think how vast our world really is.

It’s about spending time with friends, making bucket lists of things we want to do and then actually doing them. It’s a time for running around in bathing suits and heading to the beach with no worries about what time we have to be back.

Having a laid back summer is simply an opportunity to live a simpler and more conscious life.

Which is integral to our lives the rest of the year. It helps me to be more centered and to have gratitude for all the parts of my life, both laid-back and hectic. It reminds me that each year has a season and each season comes and goes and through it all we should be thankful not matter what.

What kind of summer do you typically have? Do you opt for a more laid back summer or one with more routine? What differences do you notice between the two?