Y’all, summer break is almost here for us … Monday is my daughter’s last day as a sophomore in high school. {I can’t even talk about the fact she has just two years left of high school. Seriously. Because make the time slow down. Please.}

Summer is great. We love slowing down and family vacations and homemade ice cream. Both my girl and I enjoy a little bit of sleeping in and we’ll certainly be guilty of some NetFlix binging.

But let’s be honest, somewhere during the third or fourth week of all this laid back living, the cracks in our plan for doing nothing will become quite evident. Crankiness and short tempers will make periodic appearances and I’ll begin wondering why I ever thought summer break was a good idea.

About a month ago, I started thinking about all the ways our summers have not lived up to the hype in the past. And I made a list of some of the things we have done that seem to make a real difference in how we survive summer break.

Here are three tips for making summer break awesome!

1. Create a MOST IMPORTANT list. We do this at Christmas every year and I’m adding it to our summer plan this year. Each of us will decide what activity is the most important to us. Those items get added to the calendar in ink. We all agree these are the must do’s … and as long as they are done we’ll call the summer a success — even if there are other things we’d like to do that just don’t happen. These don’t have to be expensive and you may not even leave home. You can set your own limits on what can go on this list but the important thing is to make sure everyone adds something and no one gets to complain about what anyone else chooses.

2. Serve together. I’ve found this is the very best way to help our kids be less self-centered. Maybe you’ll bake cookies for the neighbors or work together in VBS, maybe you’ll visit a local nursing home or babysit to give a single mom some time to herself. Truthfully, what you do isn’t nearly as important as doing it. So figure out a way to serve together. {Courtney DeFeo has created an awesome resource called “Summer to Serve” which has tons of ideas for kids to be engaged in service. It’s only $5 and the proceeds support a great ministry. You can learn more about it and order your copy on Courtney’s website.}

3. Designate “no one in/no one out” days. Summer calendars can fill up quickly with pool days and camps and all sorts of other fun activities. But I’ve learned the value of setting aside days where we are home, just our family. It gives us space to decompress and rest — bodies and minds. Often we’ll do a big chore together and then enjoy a fun meal and movie night. But sometimes, we all spread out to different places in the house and just relish the solitude.

What’s your best tip for making summer break great?

xo,

Teri Lynne