It’s school time again. I find that among the moms I talk to there are two sharply contrasting reactions to the start of the school year: glee and sadness. And frankly I think many moms, whether they’re anticipating sending the kids off to school or dreading it, feel a mixture of both.
If you’re sad to see summer come to an end because you were enjoying the downtime and had so many things left that you wanted to do, I have a tip for you: you can turn that disappointment into excitement by capturing what you’re feeling and why right now.
Here’s how it works: as moms we know from experience that summer presents a unique opportunity to get out and show our kids the world and enjoy special times together. Often our school years can be filled to overflowing with activities, which makes the down time of summer so precious. And we’ve also seen how opportunities missed in summer seem to disappear completely. But I’ll tell you a secret: they’re not really gone. They’re just forgotten. And each one remembered becomes a promise for the future. Because there will be more summers. And before then there will be bits of downtime and quiet evenings and weekends, even if they are few and far between.
So here’s what I want you to do: I want you to create for yourself a reminder of why you were sad to see summer end this year. What had you hoped to do but didn’t? What did you most enjoy that you wanted to keep going?
Write it down. Grab a journal and pour out your emotions about this particular summer coming to an end (or if you’re visual, go through your summer photos and make a collage). Those memories will be precious for you and your kids. Then once you’ve written the long version of it, I want you to go back and distill each reason for your disappointment into one sentence.
Like this: I’m sad that my kids never got to have a picnic lunch out on Grandma & Grandpa’s boat. Or even shorter (without the emotion): Have a picnic lunch on Grandma & Grandpa’s boat.
Guess what that is? It’s an entry for my Family Bucket List (and also an uncompleted item from our Summer Bucket List.) If you also created a Summer Family Bucket List – good for you. Now it’s time to move some of those uncompleted items over to your long-term plan that spans the duration of your kids’ childhoods (and beyond).
Turn your back-to-school blues into promises for the future by adding them to your Family Bucket List.
Don’t have a Family Bucket List yet? You need to check out my new e-book Family Bucket Lists: Bring More Fun, Adventure, & Camaraderie Into Every Day which provides unique prompts for creating your individual and shared lists, along with tips for troubleshooting and documenting your adventures. Click to learn more.
Now leave a comment and tell us: what will you miss from this summer? What unfinished summer dreams will you put on your long-term list of family plans?
Tweetables
- Try this back-to-school exercise to defeat your end-of-summer blues. – Click to Tweet
- It’s time to move uncompleted summer bucket list items to your long-term plan. – Click to Tweet
- Turn your back-to-school blues into promises for the future by adding them to your Family Bucket List. – Click to Tweet
