Summertime Brings Freedom, But Lacks Routine

School is almost out for the summer and with it comes freedom…and lack of routine. This is one of the biggest organizing dilemmas that parents face over the summer, and this is why your kids are complaining by August, “I’m bored”. Whether they are willing to admit it or not, kids like structure. They like knowing what comes next and what to expect and unfortunately, unless you have a rigidly planned summer, most days are a free-for-all.

Don’t get me wrong, I think kids should have the opportunity for unstructured, exploratory time over the summer, but you can still have some semblance of organization. For example, make Monday laundry day and Friday lawn day. That doesn’t mean that your whole Monday and Friday are taken up with these chores, but if the kids know that they are expected to fold their laundry on Monday and mow the lawn on Friday, then they have just enough structure to stay organized.

Another thing to watch out for is the creeping bedtime. It is so easy to let them stay up late; it is after all the summer! But you will dread that decision when it comes time to get back into the regular bedtime routine before school starts. Maybe you stay up late a bit more often over the summer, but just keep it in check so that you can get right back to the school bedtime routine come August.

Last Thursday I had the opportunity to once again speak to Marie Roker-Jones of Raising Great Men about boys, organizing and the summer. If you didn’t get a chance to listen live, it is still available at Raising Great Men on BlogTalk Radio. These are just some of the things we discussed along with organizing tips for the first-year college student, productive activities families can do together to stay organized and what parents can do to lay the groundwork for solid organizational skills in the future. Enjoy!