Tuesday, June 28, 2016

Parents, Don’t Waste Your Lazy Summer Days


Summertime. The blissful time of year when the crazy schedules stop and kids can sleep in, stay up late around the bonfire, delve into good books, and enjoy lemonade stands by the side of the road. Yet as the end of the school year drew near, I was hit with a dose of the parental panic many of us feel. Would my kids be bored this summer if I didn’t have them enrolled in 10 different activities? “What camps are your kids doing? What kinds of lessons are they taking?” are questions that moms are often asking each other.

The pressure to keep our kids’ schedules filled to the brim can diminish the possibility of a summer respite. But is it really such a bad thing to have wide open spaces in our planners? Might this be the very thing we need in order to refocus our priorities and make the most of the short season of time we’re given with our children?

Point them to the Lord at all times

This has been a pivotal year for me in parenting. Our oldest child became a teenager. I’ve noticed a shift in my perspective when, in a movie or show or song, there’s a sentimental moment of a child heading off to college for the first time or a young woman getting married. Instead of relating to my own experiences of going to college or getting married, I’ve thought mainly of my daughter. Tears have filled my eyes on numerous occasions as I ponder what it will feel like when my firstborn leaves the nest, and I have been increasingly aware that in just five short years, she could be departing from our home.

Read the entire article by Stacy Reaoch here.

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