STAY CONNECTED WITH YOUR FAMILY & YOUR BUSINESS.

Dreams of a lazy, relaxed summer reminiscent of the 1970s float through my head as I think about our coming summer. My type-A personality is all aflutter as I fill out index cards with activities, camps, and getaways. My mapping routine typically starts in March and ends up with everyone complaining (me about how expensive camps are and my kids going to said camp).

With failure comes growth.

This annual routine lasted about 6 years before I realized my summers need more flexibility, and about two years into my mental rollercoaster, I began to make detailed notes of what worked and what didn’t.

Eventually, I came up with a summer recipe for summer survival for work from home moms of varying budgets.

There is no reason summer should make you choose between work and family: you can work on your dreams AND have a (semi) action-packed summer.

HERE ARE SOME IDEAS TO HELP YOU GET THE CREATIVITY FLOWING:

1) Prepare. Yep, just like packing lunches, when you prepare, you breathe a whole lot easier. So don’t save the planning and mapping of the summer months until the last minute. If you wait too long, all the good camps will be filled, and the good sitters snapped up.

Start planning as early as February. Or if you missed the boat this year, make a list (with links!) to camps and programs that look interesting (would someone please create a Harry Potter camp?), so you'll be ready to roll come next spring. I highly recommend putting a repeat reminder on your calendar.

Don't forget to start conversations about the exciting camps with your kids now. If you get them dreaming about the beautiful summer that awaits them next year,  they’re far more likely to be on board when it comes time to enroll them.

OLDER KIDS need less prep, but they do need some initial guidelines for their summers. If you help them make plans with their friends, you’ll not only show them how to do it on their own; you’ll ensure some free time for yourself.

👉 Looking for summer ideas for teens? Parenting Tweens and Teens has a cleaver list ready for your eyes Here’s How To Make Sure Your Teens Have Fun And Are Productive This Summer.

2) Hire help. A sitter, a nanny, or an au pair - Unfortunately, I’ve never had an au pair because of A.) I’m not that fancy, and B.) I saw “Hand that Rocks the Cradle.”

Line up activities for the sitter to do with the kids. Our list always includes things that the kids want to do, but I avoid them at all costs (playgrounds, arcades, etc…).

👉 And, if you pad your sitter’s payday a little, you can ask them to do double duty to help you around the house. Fold the laundry? Prep out the food for dinner?  Clean up the dog poop? (Pleeeease clean up my giant Ridgeback's giant doggie droppings, so I don't have to!)

OLDER KIDS: Some kids do well with solo time at home, and others need some supervision but have outgrown a sitter. Consider hiring a student home from college to help around the house for a few hours a week.

3) Kid-friendly work cafe Look for a coffee shop or cafe with space for kids to play while you work. When my babies were little, I made good use of our gym membership. They had childcare, a cafe, and wifi. Done and done.

OLDER KIDS: As your kids get older, they’re sometimes easy to bring along. Have them bring a book or computer and set them up at their very own table. This is an easy way to sneak in an hour or two of work.

4) Can’t afford a sitter or day camps? Camps and sitters cost money—a ridiculous amount. And if you’re starting your business and don’t have the cash flow yet, it can be a debilitating catch 22.

You need the sitter so you can work to make money, but you haven’t earned enough to justify paying someone.

If you’re swimming around in the money dilemma, do some digging to find affordable camps (an hour or two each day will do wonders for your frame of mind). If you belong to a church (or even if you don’t), Vacation Bible Study camps are excellent options and are usually dirt cheap.

Also, look into creating a sitter co-op with your mom friends. Rotate homes and days to watch each other’s kids for a few hours. Or swap time with a couple of your friends. Watch four kids for 3 hours on Monday and get 3 hours to yourself on Wednesday. (I did this when kids were relatively little, and it worked magically.)

Pro tip: I'm a fan of making living room forts and letting them watch a movie in it - buys me a couple of hours to work, and they get a summertime movie experience!

And don't forget to check into contributing to a dependent care spending account. You can save quite a bit of money by using pre-tax dollars - be aware that you need to spend it or you lose it, so plan your kid's activities accordingly.

OLDER KIDS: Dependent care spending account is for 13 and under, so if you’ve got older kids, you’ll need a plan B. Considerer swapping supervising/carpooling activities with other parents of tweens or teens.

5) The last tip, sprinkle in day trips to the beach/mountains/nearby towns, try drive-in movies, and MANY water fights. Don't buy into the guilt of having to spend all of your time (and money) making sure your kids are thoroughly entertained.

OLDER KIDS love to be by themselves, so ditching them to work is vastly easier, but it also means it’s easy to do it often. Make sure you spend time with them, too, even if it’s a daily trip to Starbucks for a frappuccino.

Enjoy your summer, friends! Remember, you are in control. Don’t let your business slip because it’s easier in the moment. Your future self will thank you!

P.S. Need help sorting out how best to work from home? Scour my blog, find me on Instagram, or contact me.

P.P.S. Combine this list with my Shelter in Place #WFH tips, and you’ll have an arsenal of tools to help you stay productive over the summer and avoid the typical dip.