Summer comes and goes and we look back on the things we should have done, the crafts we should have made, the vacation a we should have taken, the sleepovers we should have had and so on. My answer to this is just say YES! Say yes to getting the kitchen messy and say yes to pulling out every blanket and pillow into the living room, and maybe even the mattress, and let the kids sleep there for a few days. Say yes to jumping in the car and having a day of adventure. Say yes to having a friend stay the night for multiple days at a time haha. I say yes to all this because number one, these yes things are free, and number two your kids think these little things are super cool which in return makes you super cool. You don’t have to oh la la them with pricey trips to Target or trampoline parks. Half of the time when I ask my kids what they want to do they want to stay at home. They want me to come up with crazy fun ideas AT HOME. This leads me into another blog post I was going to make giving lots of at home DIYs that are easy to do with your family but I decided I needed to drop a few ideas in this post, my type of cliffhanger to get you to keep wanting more haha!
- Make a tent and include the tv. Drape sheets over your pallet or bed and make it to where it goes over and includes the tv. This is so they can have movie night completely covered! I literally tie sheets and use ponytail holders to tie sheets to my ceiling fan to drape it down! My kids still ask for me to build them tents in their rooms and is one of their favorite things for me to do when they have sleepovers!
- Pick up some painters tape at the store. I have done this since my kids were little. It started with when they were around age 2 me making roads and buildings all out of blue tape on the floors and rugs for them to drive toy cars on. Now it’s elaborated into baseball fields and basketball courts in my kitchen. I’ve even brought in outdoor riding toys before and made roads around my whole house…when they were younger.
- MAKE SLIME! I repeat MAKE THE STINKIN SLIME! I don’t know why parents don’t like making slime or playing with playdough. As long as the Kids know where the boundaries are with the slime I see no harm. Mine know it doesn’t leave the kitchen and most of the time they are sitting on the kitchen counter playing with it. It’s so relaxing too and cheap and easy entertainment!
- Surprise them with a day out of the house without breaking the bank. Take them to the Dollar Tree or $5 and below and tell them they have $10 to spend. This does drive me a little crazy because the decisions are endless but I also give mine a time limit! It’s fun watching them budget and make decisions on what they want to get. Then head for a snow cone after or ice cream!
- break out the water hose. What is it about turning on the water hose and giving kids permission to play with it? Mine can be swimming in the pool and I’ll go to add water to the pool and instantly all they care about is playing with the water hose. So why not put it to good use? Have them wash cars or water plants or fill up buckets or play water hose limbo!
- Three words…Kids Baking Championship! My kids love watching cooking competition shows with me haha. So why not put them to the test. And this is something that can be done at any age. Whether it’s decorating cookies or cupcakes or giving them certain ingredients to make something out of or if they are older and can use the oven make them do a cake! Give them each an apron to decorate before with their “tv name” on it and ready set cook! Now of course everyone’s a winner here and mom gets to enjoy the taste testing!
- and now my favorite thing to do which I will go in to further detail in a later post….CRAFTS. I always buy those canvases by the 10 pack from michaels for like $20 and always keep them in stock. I also always have craft paint on hand too. My kids love for me to draw outlines of things for them to paint or just let them look up drawing ideas on their tablet and let them go to town. We then hang them up as a “summer art display.” Their friends who come over love to do this too! We also go outside and find rocks and other things to paint. I’m so glad my kids have my love for arts and crafts.
Well there ya go, 7 days of things to do to be the best summer mom you can be haha! Like I said before, be the YES mom. Say yes to those things that you often roll your eyes at and who knows maybe while they are occupied you can enjoy a cup of coffee and an episode of real housewives!
Your summer yes mom,
Heather
Heather.guillot.styleblog
Living Life at 110% 