ABC's of Summer

I was reading a blog today about a mother and the anxiety she feels once school is out for the summer.  I feel the same way.  It's great for a for a few days, but then the kids are bored out of their minds and are on your nerves and usually each others nerves too.  

Many summers ago, I was feeling creative and came up with something that has been a great life saver for me ever since.  It's called the ABC's of summer.  The kids look forward to it and it gives us something to look forward to every day, once chores have been done.

My summer doesn't officially start until July 3rd, but for many others, summer has already begun or will begin next week.  So, I decided to get my list done early and share it with you in hopes that it might spark some ideas of your own if you chose to do your own ABC's of summer.

A is for art.  Lets make some art today!

B is for baking.  Bake something with mom today!   (My kids love to cook- and its a good learning experience for them!)

C is for car.  Help me clean out the car today and we'll go get an ice cream cone!

D is for DVD.  Lets rent a movie today from Red Box!

E is for exercise.  Let's get moving!- swimming, ride bikes, a run to the school playground to play- whatever gets our hearts pumping!  (E could also be for experiment.  My kids LOVE doing science experiments so this would be another option for my list.)

F is for favorite.  Today is favorite day.  Everyone gets to choose one favorite thing to do, eat, or go to today.

G is for games!  Lets play your favorite games today! 

H is for hot!  It's hot outside, let's make snow cones today!

I is for insects.  Let's see how many different kinds of insects we can find in our yard today.

J is for Jumpin Jacks!  Get your socks on and get ready to jump the afternoon away!

K is for King for the Day!  The boys get to go to work with daddy today!

L is for library.  Go to the library, pick out a book, and when you are finished turn it back in to me for a special treat.

M is for mountains.  Let's take a drive to the mountains and spend the day!

N is for notes.  Write a note to someone (a primary teacher, a friend, a neighbor) telling them something you like about them, and leave it on their porch as a surprise!

O is for organize.  Lets take some time today and organize your bedrooms! 

P is for picnic!  Let's go on a picnic today!

Q is for Queen for the day.  It's Nicole's day to decide what we do today!

R is for reading.  Let's have a read-a-thon- today!  Get your pillows and books.  I'll provide the treats!

S is for sleepover.  You get to have a sleepover tonight!  

T is for toys.  Go through your toys today and make a pile of the ones you don't want anymore.  We can take them to DI or you can have a mini garage sale.

U is for unusual.  Let's do something unusual today- you come up with an idea, or I will! He, he, he!

V is for vacation.  Today you get to take a vacation from one of your chores!  (Or, if you are going on a vacation, you can use this day to have the kids help you pack.)

W is for water!  Play in the sprinklers today!

X is for x-tra.  Try extra hard to be extra nice to everyone today....I'll be watching, and a reward will be yours if you succeed! 

Y is for yogurt!  Let's go get a frozen yogurt!

Z is for zoo!  What else?  Let's go to the zoo!

You can control how this is done, by choosing yourself what letter-of-the-day it is, or, you can let fate happen, by letting your kids draw out a letter each day.  (I'm a control freak- so you can guess which method I use.  Plus, some of these take some planning.)  Also, I have been known to change what the letter stands for (the kids never know the difference) as the summer goes on- especially if something comes up or if I see a need.  So what I am saying is that nothing has to be set in stone.  

Having this list in hand makes it just a little bit easier to face the 'school's out for summer!' days.  Hope yours is filled with fun and lots of happy memories!