Parenting is a year-round process, yet summer brings a unique opportunity to amplify our parenting efforts. The relaxed pace of the season, with its sunshine and family activities, provides an ideal backdrop for “supercharging” our parenting initiatives while enjoying the fun of the season together.

We’ve always been proponents of goal setting and planning, as evidenced in our Tuesday Letters. That’s why we’ve crafted a Summertime Checklist—a guide to help you prepare or revisit parenting strategies as summer approaches.

  • Refresh your parenting toolbox – Join us April 19 & 20 for the GFI Parenting Conference – for Parents Toddler through Teens! Whether you choose to attend in person, watch the live stream, or view the recorded sessions later, it’s a flexible way to gain new insights and strategies from these parenting pioneers! For more information please visit:Attend in person:  https://events.humanitix.com/gfi-2024
    Live Stream/recorded sessions: https://events.humanitix.com/gfipc-streaming

Hurry! Registration ends this Wednesday, April 17th!

  • Introducing new responsibilities – Summer is a wonderful way to prepare our children for the upcoming school year and to foster independence and accountability.Younger Child
    Table Duties: Setting and clearing the table.
    Room Maintenance: Keeping their space tidy.
    Bedtime Routine: Changing into pajamas, placing dirty clothes in the basket, and brushing as well as flossing teeth.

Older Child
Waste Management: Taking out the trash.
Kitchen Help: Loading and unloading the dishwasher.
Grocery Management: Putting away groceries.
Housekeeping: Dusting and making the bed.
Laundry: Sorting and storing clean laundry.

Middle Years/Tween
Outdoor Chores: Engaging in yard work.
House Cleaning: Vacuuming and helping with meal preparation.
Bathroom Upkeep: Cleaning their own bathroom.
Laundry: Managing their laundry independently.

Teen
Sibling Care: Watching over younger siblings.
Car Maintenance: Washing and servicing cars.
Advanced Yard Work: Using gas-powered tools for mowing and edging.
Meal Preparation: Starting with fixing lunch and progressing to breakfast and dinner.
Employment: Seeking a summer job.

  • Tonic Conversations – Plan the conversations and topics you want to address over the summer. These discussions allow parents and children to explore sensitive topics in a non-confrontational manner and should be tailored to each child’s developmental stage and individuality.  Remember, these are conversations not a lecture.  Be sure to ask plenty of questions.  These discussions are often ongoing, evolving with the child’s intellectual and moral development. A topic broached in one season may take on new meaning in another, necessitating revisits and continued dialogue as the child grows.  Visit our resource page for conversation ideas and suggestions by developmental age:  Embracing TONIC-Conversations with your child

 

  • Reinforce Family Identity– Cultivating your family identity is an ongoing process that needs to grow and develop as your family grows and develops. Here are some shifts in mindsets to some familiar family identity activities for summer:Family Vacation – Make it about fun and enjoying one another.  Build and nurture relationship without the expectation of making it into teachable moments.

Family Game/Movie Night – Summer family nights allowed us the time to do things we wouldn’t necessarily do during the busy school year.  Maybe play a longer board game, start a tournament or do a puzzle that might take several family nights to complete.  Or maybe start a family friendly TV series or movie series that you can watch over the summer (remember to be mindful of too much screen time – This is a key topic that will be addressed at the GFI Conference mentioned above!)

Family Service – Serve others together and build relationship while developing empathy and compassion.  Take a mission trip, join a community cleanup project, visit a senior center, help with VBS, etc.., Investing in the lives of others, as a family, is a rich and meaningful way to rejuvenate family bonds while experiencing many valuable life-lessons together.

Begin thinking about these suggestions and ideas now.  With summer quickly approaching, you can use this time of non-conflict to prepare and be intentional. This approach helped us to make rewarding and positive strides over the summers with our boys.  Focusing on these key areas definitely paid off for us, leading to a fulfilling summer where your boys embraced new responsibilities, engaged in meaningful conversations, and enjoyed plenty of family fun.

Blessings to your family and we hope to see you at the Conference,

Shelly & Rich