With the end of school nearing and summer quickly approaching, I’ve been reflecting on what I’d like the summer to look like for my family. I’ve been thinking about the idea that what families value the most is what they spend the most time on. With long summer days ahead of us, how do I hope my family will spend our time? While reflecting, I knew I wanted our days to feel intentional, unhurried, and nature-filled. This reflection exercise turned into a list of my five goals for this summer. I hope some of these goals also resonate with you or inspire you to create your wish list for the summer.
I want us to be outside as much as we can be
Indiana weather is unpredictable, and winters can feel so long and hard. This summer, my goal is for us to be outside as much as possible. This means early morning walks in our neighborhood, water play in the afternoon, and meals outside on the patio as much as possible. It means more s’mores around the fire pit. It means bubble blowing, sidewalk chalking, and bike riding. It means trips to the park.
I want a bigger garden
We have a small, kind of sad garden, but I couldn’t love it more. Last year, nothing was perfectly spaced, and it was haphazardly watered, but despite it all, our vegetables and flowers grew. This year, I told my husband my expansion plan for the garden. “I want it to be really big,” I said. “Like so big, you look at it and think, this is a little too big.” I want to grow the types of vegetables I’m always buying at the store. I want whole dinners to come from our garden. I want my kids to pick out seeds and plants that they want to take care of. I want cut flowers on our table from our own backyard.
I want to slow down
A big goal for this summer is to feel like we’re slowing down and taking a bit of a break. We’re not signing up for every (or even many) summer camp or activity. My kids are usually in one activity at a time during the school year, but we’ve decided to take the summer off. We’ll do swim lessons for two weeks and a week-long camp with our church, but that’s it. And that feels really good to me. Instead of rushing around, my hope is that we’ll be home, spending time with each other. My kids will have time to play and be creative. I know the risk of long stretches of unstructured time is boredom, but with the right perspective, I welcome the creativity, imagination, and resourcefulness boredom can bring.
I want to be more present
Being more present has always been one of my goals, but it feels even more important in the summer, given the amount of time I spend with my kids. One practical way I want to do this is to not always have my phone on me, especially if we’re at home in the backyard. I also want to check out more physical books from the library instead of only reading on my beloved Libby app, especially if I’m reading while my kids are around. Limiting my time on my phone will help me feel more grounded and connected to what’s happening around me.
Setting up intentional time with my kids will also help me be more present in their lives. Maybe this looks like individual ice cream dates once a month or one-on-one story times that aren’t just at bedtime. Maybe it looks like my kids taking turns picking out a craft they want to do while we chat together. For me, it’s always better to have a plan or a practical way to be present instead of just hoping I will!
I want to spend less
This summer, a big goal of mine is to spend less. I want to take advantage of different parks and the library. I want us to go for lots of walks and explore new trails. I would honestly love it if the majority of our time were spent in our backyard.
This summer, give me a day stretched out with nowhere to go and nothing we have to do. Give me a walk in the morning and a park to play at. Give me cheap popsicles and library books. Give me my backyard with a huge iced tea, dinner from our garden, and my kids chasing each other around. Give me a fire in our fire pit under the starry sky where my family is all snuggled up together. That’s my wish for this summer. And it sounds absolutely amazing.
