5 Summer Break Survival Tips

Bad-mom confession: for the past few years I have dreaded the summer. As soon as the end-of-the-school-year activities start, and the “countdown ’til summer” begins, I would start thinking about all those long summer days alone with my kids with no “mom-breaks” or me-time. I’d feel a pit in my stomach. My anxiety would skyrocket. I would frantically start pinning summer crafts and activities on Pinterest.

“What am I going to do with these kids all summer long?!?!?!”

The old saying that goes, “the days are long, but the years are short” is especially true for stay-at-home moms during the summer. Those summer days are looooooong! It’s hard to keep the kids entertained. I know all the experts say, “Let them be bored! It’s good for them!” But those experts aren’t with my kids for hours and hours at a time. I spend all summer breaking up fights, refereeing arguments, cleaning up millions of messes, and fixing snacks after snacks after snacks after snacks. Sure, naptime can be a reprieve for some moms. But my kids have never been big on naptime. And trying to get them to stay in their rooms for “quiet time” is more work for me than it’s worth.

But this year was different. My kids are older. They’re able to play together for longer periods of time without me having to interject every 5 minutes to diffuse an argument.  They’re also better at entertaining themselves and will play alone quietly for good chunks of time. So I really wasn’t dreading this summer like I normally do.

That all being said, I still have a few things in place to make sure that our summer goes as smoothly as possible. (And so I don’t go crazy!)

Here are my 5 Summer Break Survival Tips:

1. Babysitter Sharing

If you have family close by that will take your kids a few times a week to give you a break…then I’m totally jealous of you! Seriously though, take Grandpa or Auntie up on their offer – let them take the kids so you can have a break! If you don’t have family that’s able to help you out, consider asking another mom to share a babysitter with you for a few hours a week. My friend and I do this all summer long. We pay the sitter more per hour but split the cost. So it ends up being cheaper for each of us, and the sitter makes more money. It’s win-win for everyone!

2. A Schedule

My kids really thrive on a schedule. I have an entire blog post all about our summer schedule that you can check out. I also have a free printable to download – an editable and visual summer schedule. Check it out by clicking here!

3. Summer Camps/VBS

I’m lucky that we’re in a financial situation where I’m able to send my kids to camp for a few weeks during the summer. The camp they attend offers sessions from 9am to 1pm for three different weeks, 2 in June and 1 in July. It really helps to break up the summer into manageable chunks. If you’re not financially able to do summer camp, you can always look into Vacation Bible Schools in your area. They’re typically more affordable, sometimes they’re even free!

4. Annual Memberships

We have annual memberships to a few of our local attractions here in Atlanta. When I’m looking at an entire empty week on our schedule, I’ll go ahead and plan to take the kids to the zoo or a museum a few of the days to break up the week. Most annual memberships are good deals if you’re planning to visit the attractions more than once in a year. For example, one trip to Zoo Atlanta would be almost $57 for my kids and myself. An annual family membership is $99. So if we know we’ll go more than once, the annual membership is a better deal. Right now, we have memberships to the Atlanta Botanical Garden, Fernbank Museum, and our neighborhood pool.

5. Grocery Pick-up

There’s nothing worse than taking your kid to the grocery store. Except for taking more than 1 kid to the grocery store! I refuse to do my weekly big shopping trip with my kids in tow. Kroger’s Clicklist has been a lifesaver for me. The Kroger closest to me actually doesn’t offer grocery pick-up, but it’s worth it to me to drive a little farther to use the Clicklist service. Instacart grocery delivery is another great option. You can use my referral link to get $10 off your first order! Click here and use code HDAVIS222 when you check out.

These 5 things make summer a little bit easier for me. What sort of things do you do to make it through summer break with your kids?