Summertime can be expensive for families on a budget. The school year ends, and suddenly your children’s daily structure goes out the window for a few months. If you want to fill their time with fun activities, it can get expensive in a hurry.
If you’re saving up for a full-on vacation or simply need to pinch pennies, there are lots of ways you can keep your kids engaged and having fun all summer without breaking the bank. Here are a few of my family’s favorite summertime activities that get us out of the house and spending quality time together during school break. Backyard campouts. If you’re lucky enough to have a backyard, take advantage of it and organize a little camping trip right in the middle of your lawn. It’s a great way to test-drive future actual camping trips and work out the kinks before you’re stuck in the middle of nowhere. And if your kids start to complain, their real beds are just a few steps away. Scavenger hunts. Hide toys or candy around your yard for a free and fun afternoon activity! Scavenger hunts can keep your kids occupied for a while—especially if you’re great at hiding things. Museums. Whenever I move to a new place, I always scope out the local museums. They usually have reasonable admission rates and are much less crowded than bigger museums. This is a great activity for days when the heat is unbearable and you need an air-conditioned building to walk around for a few hours. State parks. Skip the long lines and crowded national park trails and head straight to a state park. There might be an admission fee depending on the park or if you’re staying overnight, but it’s always worth it. Historical sites. Most people don’t think about all the history that’s right in their hometown. Spend some time exploring your town and visit interesting historical sites nearby. It’s a great learning experience for your kids and gets them out of the house for a bit. Family fitness classes. Attending a fitness class with your family is a great way to spend time together while also getting them moving! If your community center or gym doesn’t allow little ones in group classes, open up YouTube and find some fun living room dance routines (Our kids love dancing along with The Fitness Marshall). Plant a garden. Teaching your kids how to grow plants is a great educational experience, helps get them outside, and can even lower your grocery bills! I have a small garden in my backyard and the kids love to play in the dirt right along with me. It’s a fun bonding activity and we get lots of fruits and veggies by the end of the summer. Keep in mind that some of these activities may not be suitable if you have an infant or a young toddler. I recommend making a list of the types of activities your child enjoys and centering your summer adventures around them. Have a fun summer!
0 Comments
My husband and I recently started watching the Netflix show Working Moms, a show about, you guessed it: working moms. But instead of showing the perfect, Instagram-worthy version of parenthood, they show what being a working mom is actually like. And guess what? It’s not always pretty. They talk about the struggles around breastfeeding in the office, their post-baby bodies, and postpartum depression.
As a working mom myself, it’s refreshing to see people talk so openly about these taboo topics. Being a mom is hard. And being a working mom is even harder. And while I’ve never regretted it for a second, there are a few things I wish I had known before diving headfirst into balancing motherhood and my career. Weekends don’t exist anymore Before I had my first kid, my husband and I used to live for the weekends. It was our time to spend time together to reconnect, go on dates, and take quick weekend trips. But as a mother, you’ll never stop working—which means those stress-free weekends are no more. Add on top of all of your parenting responsibilities all of your job responsibilities, those weekends become a blur. More often than not, you’ll have to work on the weekends just to keep up with everything. If you work for yourself as I do, it was still hard to make the change from having my schedule exactly the way I want, to not ever having a day off. You’ll feel guilty. A lot. Am I working too much? Am I scarring my children from missing important parts of their lives? Is it wrong to want a career? Shouldn’t I be content with being a mom? I didn’t know how guilty I’d feel for wanting to continue my career after giving birth. I constantly felt like I was being judged by other mothers, my coworkers, and my boss for “trying to have it all”. And even though I’m glad I chose to do both, I still sometimes feel guilty. But I love being an entrepreneur and I love being a mother. Those things don’t have to be separate. You need a balance between the two, but if working makes you happy, don’t feel bad about it. Society WILL judge you Even though being a working mother is getting more and more socially acceptable, it’s still not the norm. If you’re living in a WASP-y neighborhood like I do, you’re going to get some side-eyes from stay-at-home mothers. It used to bother me, but I’ve been able to tune them out and just focus on myself. Because I’m happy and my children are being taken care of—and that’s all that really matters. Your Mother-In-Law will also judge you Everyone has their own views and advice on how to raise kids. And they’re always willing to share it with you. Whether it’s your mother-in-law, your neighbors, or even some random mom you pass in the grocery store, you’re going to get unprompted advice and snide remarks about how you’re raising your child wrong. Just accept it’s going to happen, smile, thank them for their “advice” and continue about your day. There’s no escaping the opinions of others who think they know what’s best for your kid. But you’re the mom and you don’t need the approval of others to raise a healthy and confident kid. At the end of the day... Parenting will never be easy. Sometimes, trying to balance your job and your own career goals with your newfound parental responsibilities will seem impossible. But if having a career is something that’s important to you, you’ll be able to find that right balance. |
AuthorHi there, I'm Molly! I am a business owner and devoted mother to two boys, Lukas and Henry, and wife to my husband, Erik. ArchivesCategories |