Making the Most of Summer as a Newly Blended Family
At the beginning of the summer I made a decision. I wanted to spend quality time during this summer with our kids, so I cut way back on time spent in my business. I realized that I only have a few summers left with our oldest kids before they turn eighteen. There aren’t many years left with them before they all leave our home to spread their wings and fly! I’m so grateful for every moment we enjoyed together.
Get up earlier. I got up earlier so I could get work done before breakfast. This plan didn’t always work perfectly, but for the most part it flowed smoothly and the summer flew by way too fast.
Enjoy the simple things! The best things about this summer were the simple things: like taking Buddy on a walk, a spontaneous trip to the pool, painting and doing crafts together, and dancing silly together. I got to watch my tween girls growing up — Elyana picking out her first two piece and Emma getting blue highlights put into her hair for middle school.
Find fun, low cost things to do. There were so many fun things we got to do together that were either free or cost very little. We took turns riding a lone Lime scooter around City Park. We competed in the contest for who could pick up the most rocks to clear out space for new flower beds (I won, I decided.) We put our own designs on our own sweatshirts in my friend’s flat near downtown. (Thank you Kait!) When we went to the zoo, the kids (and I) had more fun riding the carousel than seeing animals. 🙈 Hey the animals were boring that day okay🤷🏻♀️ Also Ethan and Emma’s pretend friends Trisha and Brian were having a lot of problems that day so there was that.
Make ordinary things feel special. We made a lot of sushi together and had spontaneous picnics on the back patio or in the front yard or at the pool. We made dinners “fancy” with stemmed drinking glasses and speaking all the French we know to each other. (Which is not a lot 😂) The kids wore out the soundtrack to Hamilton and I would wake up hearing them in my head. (I am not throwing away my shot!!!) We binged all the seasons of a show and introduced each other to family classics and now we have new family jokes. (Are you gonna eat your tots? / Go Eleven on it.) Sometimes I read stories to the kids at bedtime just like my mom read stories to us. The ordinary things in life really can be very special! That’s how memories are made!
Even though life can be very challenging when blending a family, I have to remember that this is just as tough for our kids to accept all of the changes as it is for us to manage them. In another five years, we’ll only remember all of the good memories and feel grateful that we shared these years together!