SUMMERTIME FUN IDEAS: WHAT TO DO WITH THE KIDS

(c) 2006 by Christine Louise Hohlbaum

Summertime and the living is easy...NOT! Not, that is, if you have school-aged kids who need to be occupied for three long months. Here are a few ideas to keep Junior AND Mom happy until school starts again:

• Get smart! Research library programs. They are often free and educational!
• Get active! Check out the local sports clubs. Oftentimes they offer tutorials or a sports day camp.
• Get involved! Summer programs at the local YMCA or YWCA are often an affordable alternative to expensive summer camps.
• Get rich! Encourage older children to get a job for the summer. It will teach them responsibility, bolster their pocketbooks and keep them busy while you deal with younger siblings.
• Get organized! Create a "summer camp" for you and the neighborhood kids. Get other mothers involved or offer your babysitting services on a barter basis. Switch locations every other day.
• Get a daytimer! Children require a certain level of structure. Plan an outing every Tuesday with other families.
• Get ready! Learning a new skill such as swimming is a super way to utilize your time while having some summer fun. Visit the local community pool or consider purchasing a season pass to go any time you like.

The hazy, lazy days of summer are upon us. Turn on the water sprinkler, sit back, and enjoy it!

Christine Louise Hohlbaum, American author of Diary of a Mother: Parenting Stories and Other Stuff and SAHM I Am: Tales of a Stay-at-Home Mom in Europe, has been published in hundreds of publications. When she isn't writing, leading seminars or wiping up messes, she prefers to frolic in the Bavarian countryside near Munich where she lives with her husband and two children. Visit her Web site: http://www.DiaryofaMother.com.

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