Setting Summer Intentions

As we close the chapter on this school year and look ahead to summer, we’re offered the opportunity to create intentionality around how we’d like our family to experience this upcoming season together. Some of the questions that can be helpful to ask include:

• How do we want to feel?

• What would we like to experience?

• What would we like to accomplish (individually or collectively)?

• Are there unique sights, sounds, and tastes that we’d like to seek out?

Some families (mine included) choose to create a summer theme. Last year we were spending quite a bit of time together at home, so our summer theme was “ease and joy”. This year we’ve planned international travel and my boy will be attending sleepaway camp for the first time, so our theme is “adventure and courage”.

Because frustration can bubble up when expectations aren’t expressed, within whatever summer framework your family chooses it can be important to clarify everyone’s wants and needs; you can then focus on identifying areas of satisfaction and areas of friction within your family’s rhythm and routines. A family meeting that begins by celebrating the successes of this most recently concluded school year can be an ideal time for collaborative conversations about the shift into summer.

And remember, even with the most thoughtful intentions things won’t always go according to plan. Wobbly moments provide wonderful opportunities for us to model flexibility for our children, to practice compromise, and to make repairs when necessary.