3030: I'm Bored! 6 Tricks For Beating Summer Boredom by Jen of This Time of Mine on Summer Activities

[00:00:00] Kaffee in seiner besten Form Mit Qubo wird jeder Kaffee auf Knopfdruck zum Genussmoment. Denn mit der neuen Qubo One Kapselmaschine von Chibo genießt du feinsten Spitzenkaffee aus besonderen Anbaugebieten. Vollmundige Aromen dank innovativer Press-Brew-Technologie und über 17 Sorten Kaffee für jeden Geschmack. Erlebe Premium Kaffee schon ab 29 Euro. Entdecke jetzt die Qubo Kapselmaschinen in deiner Chibo Fiale und auf Chibo.de

[00:00:27] Meditieren, Yoga, Joggen, nichts entspannt mich. Echt? Mich entspannt meine Steuer total. Steuer? Wie Finanzamt? Die Steuererklärung? Ja, ich hab ganz locker über 1000 Euro zurückbekommen. Hast du geheime Connections? Nö, nur die Visu-Steuer-App. Wow! Und das ist einfach? Klar, die macht fast alles automatisch. Plötzlich fühle ich mich so entspannt. Hol dir dein Geld zurück. Tiefenentspannt mit Visu-Steuer.

[00:00:55] This is Optimal Relationships Daily. I'm Bored. Six Tricks for Beating Summer Boredom. By Jen of thistimeofmine.com. When summer break finally hits, the kids are so excited to play that it's hard to imagine they'll ever get bored. Yet inevitably, they always do. Summer break brings a much-needed change in pace, but I think we can all admit that certain days are more challenging than others.

[00:01:21] Days where we hear, there's nothing to do, and can't I just watch more TV? More times than we'd like. Over the past few summers, I've found a few tricks that help. They keep the days from dragging without overfilling them, and they help keep us all sane. Well, most of the time. I hope they help you too. Six Parenting Hacks for Beating Summer Boredom.

[00:01:46] These tips have been lifesavers for me during summer break. Some summers are busier than others, but we still include all of these each summer, and they've made a huge difference for all of us. Number one. Make a plan. Routines and plans are easy during the school year. We have school, activities, and defined weekends that keep us on track. But summer is a little different. Even with summer sports, camps, and activities, it's easy to let go of regular day-to-day routines.

[00:02:15] Try including these three things in your summer planning. Keep a family calendar. Print out a blank calendar for the summer months. Put everything in them so you know what's coming and can plan accordingly. On a separate page, write out recurring weekly activities. Weekly library trips, Tuesday soccer practices, daily swimming lessons, etc. So you can create a daily routine around them. Create a daily routine.

[00:02:41] In the summer, I also like to have a laminated list for each of my kids that they have to complete before playing with screens or friends. Like reading, cleaning their rooms, getting ready for the day, etc. And make plans together. Include the kids on this one. Do you want daily activity themes? How about a summer family bucket list? Are there any city events coming up? Have a family meeting to decide on some fun, memory-making activities that your family can do together.

[00:03:11] Number two. Make chores and expectation. Getting kids to do chores in the summer might seem like an easy idea. After all, we have more time, right? But when friends come knocking at 10am, or we're out doing various summer activities and sports, it gets a lot harder to make it a regular thing. Which is why we have to make it a conscious effort. Depending on what's going on, some days might require morning chores, and others might require afternoon chores.

[00:03:39] It's okay if the times for chores vary, as long as kids know they have to do them before playing with friends or screens. Because with everyone home, there's a lot more to clean up. And I, for one, don't want to do it all alone. And as a bonus, summer is a great time to introduce harder chores that kids can earn money for. I don't pay my kids for helping out around the house, but they can do extra things, like clean out the car, wash windows, or mow the lawn to earn some extra cash.

[00:04:07] Number three. Include other daily responsibilities. Help kids practice being self-sufficient and independent with daily summer responsibilities. This also helps reinforce your daily routines. What you choose to include will depend on your child's abilities and needs. But here are a few ideas. Reading. Journaling. Learning worksheets. Educational activities. Practicing an instrument. And playing with a sibling. Number four.

[00:04:37] Introduce alone time. Full disclosure, I love including alone time in our routines. It cures everything, including bad moods, whining, bickering, summer boredom. I could go on and on. It is the perfect reset for kids. And parents. For alone time, we set a timer. And everyone picks a location and a screen-free activity. It's quiet time. And when we're done, everyone is happier. It's simply amazing.

[00:05:06] During the school year, I do independent playtime and quiet time regularly with my younger two. But during the summer, we all get to participate. This is especially great during long, hot afternoons. Number five. Have a backup plan. While I don't think it's our responsibility to be cruise directors for our kids and keep them entertained at all times, I do like having a few tricks up my sleeves. Fallbacks for when they are just so bored.

[00:05:34] I've written articles about a bunch of activities that you can keep in your back pocket for when you need them, including titles such as And number six.

[00:06:06] You've probably heard this one before. But it's true. It is good for kids to be bored. It sparks their creativity and imagination like nothing else. Kick them outside. Or have some open-ended toys around the house. And let them see what they can come up with. And if they're bored to death with their toys, take them away. Seriously. Put most of them in bins and stick them in a closet. Leave out a few. And when they've played with them for a while, switch them out. They'll feel like brand new toys again.

[00:06:35] Other ideas include having an I'm Bored jar, filled with activities kids can pull out. Or having a list of random acts of kindness that kids can choose from. Have a wonderful summer. You just listened to the post titled I'm Bored. Six Tricks for Beating Summer Boredom. By Jen of thistimeofmine.com Was deine Haut braucht, ist was deine Haut braucht. Pigmentflecken reduzieren und vorbeugen.

[00:07:04] Durch innovative Wirkstoffe und höchsten UV-Schutz. Eubos Anti-Age. Dein neues Duo gegen Pigmentflecken und Hautalterung. Eubos. Individual Skincare. And thanks so much to Jen for this post today. Definitely fitting with the summer upon us. And I think that many of us, myself included, can recall the feelings of boredom that sometimes crept in for ourselves as children during those summer vacations.

[00:07:34] But I will say that for as much as I really enjoy this article and her great ideas and appreciate the preparedness that any parent would want prior to the summertime, I also think there's some value in letting kids just watch TV if they want to sometimes, like she said. It's wonderful to want to tend to their growth over the summer and make sure their brain doesn't go to mush without schooling. But in some cases, you know, they do want to watch TV a little bit longer,

[00:08:03] not because they're actively choosing to be less lively, but because they actually need the rest. There's a lot of stimulation for them during the school year. And the summer vacation is instated to help them recuperate. That's the point of it. So make sure to balance this type of relaxation with your efforts to keep them engaged and learning. And that's going to do it, everybody. That's going to wrap us up for today. I hope you enjoyed this one, parents. And hey, you might even be walking away with some ideas

[00:08:33] for how to keep yourself from getting too bored this summer. Hope so. Enjoy your Friday and be sure to join us again tomorrow for another post. That's where your optimal life awaits.