42 | Summer 2021
Give Your Kids a 1980s Summer SARAH LYONS
contributing writer
As the whirlwind of the last few weeks of school fly by, I find myself ready for the long, unscheduled days of summer. Sleeping in, spending our afternoons poolside, and playing hide and seek until the fireflies come out. Realistically, my idea of carefree summer days come from my youth and not from the summers our own kids typically experience. Camps, playdates, and ball games fill up most of our calendars while any free time is consumed by parent-planned educational activities and crafts seen on social media. While these things aren’t bad, it can be a little daunting for parents due to the pressure to plan every minute of their child’s summer. I have declared this summer to be different. My kids will have the kind of
summer I had as a child. One that is less scheduled and more free play, less video games and more outside time, and less parent-planned and more child-created. If, like me, you are tired of feeling pressure to entertain and educate your child every waking moment, use these tips to enjoy your summer, 1980s style. UNPLUG Today we love our electronics. It is unlikely that many of us can make it more than a few hours without checking in with social media and responding to emails and texts. Our kids are no different, but limits should be set on screen time to allow kids to experience outdoor play, the joy of curling up with a good book, and allowed time to use their own imaginations. 1980s kids
didn’t have apps, educational or not, to entertain them and fill their days. Instead, they used their imagination to create inventions with recycled trash, build forts with whatever they could find, and cooperate with other kids to create games that could last for hours. GO OUTSIDE “Go outside and come back when it’s dinner time” is what my parents would say nearly every afternoon when I was growing up. There were no scheduled playdates, meet ups at the park, or specific activities planned. If I wanted to go to the park, I would ride my bike or walk there. If I wanted a friend to come along, I would swing by their house on the way and knock on the door to see if they wanted to join me. My parents had only a vague
