Why I love summer break
This post is sponsored by Jersey Mike’s but the content and opinions expressed here are my own.
I’m going to be the odd ball who comes out and says I LOVE SUMMER BREAK. Don’t get me wrong, I love dropping my kids off at school and getting a little untouched me time every single day. But I never realized how much I hate strict schedules until my kids started preschool. I’m 100% THAT mom who rolls up to 9am drop off at 9:30 with a coffee in my hand, my son’s breakfast still on his face, and leggings and a t-shirt on with some bedhead. So right when summer break starts, this mama is rejoicing!
Why I love summer break, and you should too:
Slower mornings: Growing up I’ve never been a morning person. My mom would dress me in the mornings before school, while I was still sleeping. Almost every Saturday, my husband wakes up with the kids. and does all the morning stuff with them just so I can sleep in till 10 am, for awhile I was convinced I was going to home-school the kids, just so we don’t have to wake up early. Yes, my anti-early bird-ness is SO real. So every Fall break, Winter break, Spring break and most importantly, Summer Break, I look forward to sleeping in, and just a slower start to our mornings.
Less Laundry: More days at home=more days in PJ’s and not school clothes. When school is in session, my kids wear about 2-3 outfits a day. 1. Pajamas 2. School Clothes 3. Play Clothes (when they get home from school). So 3 outfits a day times 3 boys, and 5 days a week (only counting school days, not weekend)…that’s 45-ish outfits a week. Now that number is not 100% correct, because they’ll wear the same pajamas 2-3 days in a row, but you get the picture. That’s a lot of laundry during the school year. During summer break, I get a nice little break from the over flowing laundry baskets, and I’m able to focus on other things around the house.
Less dishes: How is that possible? The kids are home more, they’ll dirty more stuff. Not entirely true. During the school year they bring packed lunch from home, so that means I have to pack them cute little sandwiches in their lunch containers and wash it everyday when they get home from school, or else it’ll be dirty and stinky! During the summer, the kids lunches are on paper plates or paper towels!
Dinner is at whatever time/wherever we want: If we’re out playing outside and loose track of time, my husband can go pick up dinner from one of our favorite restaurants, like Jersey Mike’s Subs, and bring it home and we can have an impromptu picnic. Or if it’s 8 pm (bedtime) and we decide we want to eat out somewhere, we don’t have to worry about “it’s a school night, the kids have to wake up early”. We can head to our nearest Jersey Mike’s (Click here to locate a store near you) and order our favorites.
We Love eating at Jersey Mikes: Whenever we go there the kids know exactly what they want. RJ orders the turkey and cheese kids meal, with a cookie and Gatorade. Joel and Elias split a Salami and Cheese sub with 2 cookies and a lemonade. My husband loves the Original Italian Sub with water, and mine will always be The Super Sub with a Cream Soda. Jersey Mike’s offers so many different types of cold subs, which are perfect for the summer. They can be eaten in the restaurant or on the go, or at a picnic! Perfect for a quick bite to eat on your way to the beach, or after a long day at Disney, a meal to eat when you get home. They’re the perfect addition to any summer activity!
Unending bonding time: I love how much my kids’ love each other. In the summer they spend every waking moment with each other. Sure they argue, and fight, and make me want to pull my hair out sometimes. But the moments that they’re playing so nicely, and laughing with each other, and just bonding makes it all so worth it. One day, they’ll by 20 somethin’ years old and be saying “remember that summer when…” followed by some laughs and inside jokes that were made that summer break.
I read somewhere online that you only have 18 summers with your kids until they’re off to college, so make them count. And that post received lots of backlash, because some moms’ felt as if they’re feeling pressured to do so much with their kids (summer camp, beach, splash pad, play dates with Johnny, Cindy and Kevin) but really, it’s all how you look at that quote, and how you look at summer. The time you make for your kids, just spending time together is what they’ll remember. You don’t gotta do the most expensive coolest camp, or camp at all. You don’t have to stress every moment of your day, if they were engaged enough or you stimulated their minds enough. YOU being there for them is what matters the most. So I hope this post made you gain a new positive outlook on summer break, and being home with the kiddos 24/7. As annoying as they can be, just remember, one day (as much as you don’t think you will). You WILL miss summer break when our little’s, were little.
