Last summer, this was a typical day
Kids: “Mom what can we do today?”
Me: “Oh there’s lots to do! Learn something new! Clean your room! Make lunch for your siblings! Go on a bike ride!”
Kids: (tuning me out, sneak upstairs to turn on TV)
Me: “TURN OFF THAT TV! Go outside and play!”
Kids: “Mom, we have nothing to do!”
Me: “Oh, I’ll give you something to do. Get over here, I need to tell you your chores.”
Kids: “No, mom, something FUN! Can you buy me a toy? What happened to all the gum?”
Me: “No I am not buying you anything. You need to do chores. And you need to read. Do you want your brain to turn to mush?”
Kids: “Mom, my brain will be fine if you just let me watch TV all day. And can you please get me gum at the store?”
Me: “You are driving me insane! And it’s only 10 am!”
After a few days, I knew something needed to change. After thought and prayer, I came up with our Summer Points program. My goal was to help our entire family use the extra time of summer to learn new skills, provide service, keep their minds sharp for school, encourage scripture reading and decrease complaining!
When the kids want an item or to do an activity, we add it to the list of things to work towards. When they beg for something, we direct them to their points chart. We talk about points all the time. And we also limit screen time to 1-2 hours a day or less. We read scriptures as a family each night, and tally our points for the day then. This works well for my kids, who are ages 6 to 12. They are motivated to try to find ways to earn those points and it takes so much pressure off me.
So now I present to you our Sacred Summer Boredom Busters. Click on the link to download the free points chart for your family. It’s in a format you can edit to suit your own family. Use your time to make your summer sacred! Enjoy!
Stephanie
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