School is out and work is not! For working parents, summer vacation can seem like an impossible task. Parents still need to retain their own work routine but the kids often have gone from school structure to no structure. Whether your children are 5 or 15, this poses many challenges for the working parent.A few things to try during the summer months:
- Make a schedule - be flexible, enlist your kids' help with this and post it at home. Whether the kids are going to a sitter or old enough to stay at home, a visual schedule and routine can be helpful. If your child needs that structure, break the schedule down into hourly sections. If there are tasks you expect to be done, write it out.
- Create a network - having a ‘go-to’ group of other parents is always helpful. If they are relatively close by, you could even make arrangements to "exchange" kids during work hours. For older kids, this can be a quick visit or a longer phone call with reminders. Enlist friends and family. Perhaps a relative would love to take your kids. Grandparents can also a great resource. Younger children may need to stay with a relative all day. Older children can sometimes spend a few hours at a time with friends or family to break up the day and add minimal supervision.
- Consider a home-camp share among friends. This requires some planning but if you have a good group of parent friends who are in the same situation as you, it could really work well.
- For children that are home alone, give them a project to work on. It can be a fun project or chore related. Setting an expectation for part of the day avoids the summer long television and video game habit.
- Let go of perfection – None of us are superhuman, so don't try to be. Work within your limitations and relax a little. Delegate, prioritize, and don't be afraid to let some things go!
(Thank you to Leslie Pfalzer, counselor with EAP, for sharing this article with The Arc.)
