Summer with kids at home

June 12^th, 2013…last day of school at Garden Gate Elementary School. The day my kids and me have been waiting for because we long to sleep up to 10 in the morning. A break from getting up on alarm every morning, and a relief from the drop pick schedule at school. Although, it is a different story that kids will definitely get up early from tomorrow because there is no school, I still want to think about the extra time frill in the bed. At school parents had mixed reactions, some parents wanted the school to last a little longer, some were happy to go home as they had planned big summer vacations to India, while some like me were undeniably happy to enjoy a laid back summer.

Summer time is fun time, but based on my motherly experience the excitement doesn’t last longer if there is nothing interesting to do at home. The matter of fact is that kids get bored in 2 to 3 days of vacation and ultimately complain about what to do next. Today’s parenting is no joke coz the parents are solely responsible to keep the kids engaged with creative activities. Working parents smartly opt for summer camps, math prep classes, music, dance, swimming, and tennis etc. to keep the kids occupied. Unlike yester years today’s generation believes in expensive summer camps as ways to keep the kids active, happy and social. 

Back in the days when I grew up in India, every summer vacation I was sent to my native place. My native is a small tropical village in the countryside near Goa, Maharashtra. Almost from grade 2 to grade 8^th, I spent every vacation in my ancestral house in the countryside. Every day I would go out on an expedition with my uncle, aunty, cousins or friends in the farm. Fetching water from the well, running in the farms, plucking fruits from the trees to eat, drinking fresh cool coconut water, or covering the floor with cow dung everything seemed like an adventure. Believe me, every day would be special even if I had to go behind the cattle, or visit our ancestral temple. I was like a free bird let loose in the country without any restrictions to explore every possible opportunity. The life in my village fascinates me even today. I consider myself extremely fortunate for such opportunities to lead life in the recluse of nature and wonder when will my kids get to explore such rustic earthy and pure fun openings.

Back in the days, our parents did not even know our whereabouts as long as we were with some family member.  However, today because of the wide scope of technology, media, and massive reach of information people know much more than they should and it is practically impossible to trust anyone. Besides, there are other alarming societal issues like stranger danger, safety, child abuse, abductions and so on. Therefore, compared to those days, today looking after the kids single handedly is pretty challenging. So like a smart mommy on the go, I have stacked up a list of places to visit, fun things to do at home, lined up play dates and tentatively planned vacations for the next 8 weeks to keep my kids busy and stimulated. In fact we have already signed up for summer reading program at the Cupertino library. My job is to keep their morals boosted and encourage them to relax and have fun to make the summer of 2013 memorable.

Happy summer!