Summertime!
It’s hot and the best time to go out and enjoy water sports! I remember getting up at the crack of dawn as a kid and packing up stuff for the day at the pool. Back then, we would start swim team practice early, about 6 am, and then, stay all day getting out to eat lunch and of course, a Reese’s cup or two! It was a simple time where a good book and a bottle of sunscreen was the only thing you needed to be entertained.
See in Original FormatTimes are different and my children, like most, have grown accustomed to hours of play on electronics such as a Wii or an Xbox, leaving them mesmerized for hours in the air conditioning. Not a bad idea for the hottest parts of the day but seriously, not very stimulating otherwise. For the last two summers, I have fought with both of my children about how much time they spend glued to an electronic device, and I swore this summer would be different.
I signed them up for camp Holy Wilde with the church, and I signed them up for horseback riding camp. I bought all sorts of books on summer curriculum and actually tore out sheets for each week for them to do. The camps were met with a little excitement….the worksheets got me some looks. LOL! A friend of mine called and asked if they might want to go to a water ski camp, and I thought well… they can swim and so perhaps they might like that too.
The first week out of school, I pulled out their weekly folders filled with crosswords and word searches and yes, grammar drills and math practice sheets. Grumble…Grumble. Another friend and I spoke about our concerns of “electronic vegetation” and that if left unchecked, can turn into an entire summer of opportunities gone. There are, after all, only so many years of childhood to just enjoy summertime. I thought about motivation and tied into the weekly folders a reward system of an allowance. I added that God forsaken word “chores” to their mix of responsibilities, too. This all so far has gone over fairly well.
Week one they actually finished their weekly folders and yes, did pick up pool toys, tidy up rooms and spend less time on videos. After some thought, I decided to add a demerit system for back talking and sibling fighting to help keep their behavior in check. This has worked too! After all, it’s kind of disappointing to work hard all week getting it right and then loose money for being sassy! But, I figure it’s best to figure out early on that there are consequences, and as I have discovered in mothering, and as of late parenting, it only gets tougher. It’s easy to do a time out with a toddler. It’s harder to create a sense of responsibility and instill a real desire for learning just for learning’s sake throughout childhood.
As I packed up the children for the second week, I was a little sad to see them go but figured the end result would be a better knowledge of water and hopefully, meeting some new friends! When I went to get them, I was pleasantly surprised. Yes, they had learned more about water and since we have never really gotten into group sports, the water boarding sport is a good one for us as a family. Both of them were kept so busy all week that they had not had time to do any of their folders! Oh well. After all, school will start soon enough and at least for now those “glued to the video days” are a fleeing memory!
After seeing how much fun they had and hearing them beg for more weeks at water ski camp, I gave in and decided that this summer was going to be about having fun. This next week they’ll be back to cracking those folders open and “work sheeting” it away. But soon enough, they’ll be gone again and back out on the water. That’s really what childhood should be about, right? Summertime fun sprinkled with a little work and building lasting memories.
I see that it won’t be long before a boat is in my future. I can think of nothing more important than giving in to making childhood memories and creating a love of a sport that everyone in the family can enjoy! I hope you are enjoying your children and can find a summertime “thing” that everyone enjoys as well! Cheers to Childhood!
