SCHOOLS OUT!
NOW WHAT? by Kim Muench, Founder of Real Life Parent Guide (RealLifeParentGuide.com)
A
s a mother of five whose kids are spaced 17 years apart, the thought of school being out for weeks on end was enough to make my palms sweat and my heart race! How can I keep my tribe of all ages and stages happy and connected until the first August bell rings?!?! If this speaks to you too, momma, fear not. I’ve got a few ideas up my sleeve to slow that heart rate.
5 F UN WAY S TO CO N N E CT W I T H YOUR K I D S T HI S SUM M E R:
connect and promote community for all ages. This book, The Turquoise
Table by Kristin Schell, will help you
1. Take the family out to pick your own fresh produce! Pack a picnic for the road trip, as there are many options for this excursion – some closer to home than others. To get an extensive list of places to visit, go to pickyourown.org/TX.
bring back old-school events like
kick the can, hide and seek, outdoor
meals, and good old-fashioned family connection. While you watch your
kids run around or chalk the walk with the neighborhood kids, you can swap parenting wisdom, career advice, and
2. There’s nothing like an old-school neighborhood get-together to
favorite recipes with that new mom or dad or the older couple up the block you haven’t yet met.
3. Create a family ritual around games or
K I M
M
U
E N C H
movies! Maybe it’s Saturday afternoon
34 | FLOWER MOUND TOWN LIFE | JUNE 2021
board games or Tuesday night movies – or both! Get your kids involved by asking what tradition they’d like to
begin this summer. For the final week of summer, do something different and bigger like break out a backyard campout!
4. One of the most important things we
can provide our kids is a regular time
to talk about any problems they or the family is experiencing. Maybe you’ve
picked up the towel off the bathroom floor for the last time and you’re
about to lose your cool. I hear you.
But instead of yelling, hold a Family
Meeting. Finish Sunday dinner with a family pow-wow and then go out for
ice cream. When we provide a trusted, safe place for our kids to talk to us,
they will open up. And trust me, you
want to birth that ongoing discussion long before they’re teenagers.
5. If your child had the benefit of a
special day just with you, what would he or she want to do? Ask them this and then plan it out. Have five kids?
It doesn’t have to be expensive. The
greatest gift we can give our sons and daughters is our undivided attention.
Time running your kid from one event to another does not count as alone
time. Taking a walk through the trails at Twin Coves Park does!
One final thought Mom and Dad: you
cannot give what you don’t have. So, even before doing number one on this list,
know that taking time for yourself is what’s gotta happen. Self-care is not a luxury,
it’s a necessity and something to practice every single day! Namaste.
Kim Muench, a Flower Mound mom of five, is the Founder of Real Life Parent Guide. Learn more about her work at www.reallifeparentguide.com.
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