10 Tips for Staying Sane All Summer

Hello my friends! We all want our kids to have a fantastic summer, but we definitely don’t want to lose our marbles to make it happen. Today I’m sharing my top 10 tips for keeping summer super fun and less stressful.

A MOM IN A WHITE SWEATER PUSHING A STROLLER IN A PARK

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If you are new here, welcome! I’m a homeschool, homebirth, homemade mom of 5 boys. Check out my about page to meet me and my family.

Tip #1: Get outside – everyone, not just the kids

Would you believe me if I told you that the simple act of stepping out your front door in the morning improves your mental wellbeing by up to 90%? Well, I have no idea if that stat is true so don’t quote me on that, but if you get outside every morning for the next ten days, maybe you’ll have an amazing week!

I love getting out to move my body before the heat of the day sets in, and check on what’s going on in the garden. And do you want to know a little secret? The kids notice. They come out, too, and pretty soon everyone is outside playing and getting good fresh air and sunshine.

Tip #2: Keep some of your structure

There’s nothing about summer that says you need to lose all structure in your family home. My second tip for saving your sanity this summer is to think about the things you do as a family that anchor your day, and keep some of those in place, at least a few days of the week to give some structure.

Here are some of our anchors:

Morning High Five: My kids all have a morning routine they have to complete by 9 am. It consists of 5 simple tasks they can do on their own.
Morning chore: Each kid has 1 or 2 simple chores they do before 9 am.
Morning offering: Usually in our homeschool routine we gather for prayer and reading (aka morning basket time, read about it here). In the summer we can still pray our morning offering (often right at the breakfast table) and if we have time we will still read something fun together.
Meals: Lunch and supper are other anchors for our family. At lunch we sometimes listen to something together like Yoto Daily or a favourite podcast. At supper, we often do our “High, low, water buffalo”
Family prayers: In the evenings we all gather up for our rosary as a family. This is a solid anchor of our day and a time of connection and calm.

Tip #3: Plan Small Tasks and a “Top 3”

In the summer with many children around, you need to be okay with accomplishing tasks in small bites. Have you ever heard of a top 3? This is a homemaker productivity tip that I use almost every day. I will pick my three most important tasks to complete each morning. If I get them done, I can always pick something else to do.

Tip #4: Schedule Quiet Time

This doesn’t need to happen every day (and lets be honest, it won’t). However, I think it is crucial to summer sanity to have a discipline of taking some quiet time. A couple of days a week I try to carve our 30-45 minutes of quiet time with my kids, big and small. This helps them cultivate the habit of calm quiet time. For us, we do this with no screens, but I do also sometimes use screens for quiet time, I just want them to have the skill of taking quiet time without screens, too.

Tip #5: Break up the crowd

This tip might be more for large families, but I think it can happen in any family that people can get a bit on top of each other in the summertime when you have less on the schedule. One little, simple practice we use to help break up the crowd a bit and also give a little 1:1 time with the kids.

Tip #6: Daily Non-Negotiables

What are Daily Non-Negotiables? These are the basic tasks that must happen in your home to keep things running smoothly. In our home, a load of laundry, a clean kitchen and the floors swept are my basic essentials to keep the household in order. In the summer, I find keeping up with these 80-90% of the time is realistic.

Tip #7: Watch What They Are Eating

A lot of the time in summer, kids are snacking lots, eating fruit, popsicles, ice cream and freezies. They aren’t always getting enough protein and healthy fats to keep up their energy and they can wind up crashing. For our family, checking ingredients to make sure we are eating clean even in the summer helps our moods and my sanity.

There are lots of fun, clean ingredient treats available these days, too.

Tip #8: Make a work schedule and stick to it

Summertime is full of fun and unscheduled play, but many many parents still have work they need to do while juggling kids, camps, and sports. For myself as a homemaker and mother who also works from home, respecting the schedule of when I am working is crucial to keeping my sanity in check.

Tip #9: Electrolytes

Did you know you might be drinking too much water? Too much coffee? A lot of the time in the summer we can have huge energy slumps from too much caffeine, depleting nutrients and chasing after kids at the beach and the park all day. DIY or store bought electrolyte drinks are an essential for me to maintain hydration and energy levels throughout the day.

Here’s a great electrolyte powder and here’s a recipe you could follow for a DIY version.

Tip #10: Slow Down and Focus on Gratitude

Summer is magical whether you go on a marvelous vacation or stay at home and dig in the garden. Keeping a spirit of gratitude and noticing the little, special things every day is what is going to keep your mindset positive this summer.

Check out my video

Thanks for reading my top ten tips for staying sane this summer! If you’d like to hear me chat about these tips a bit, or prefer video format, please check out my YouTube video.

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