Creating a Summer Blueprint

Get the most out of your summer by being intentional about how you spend your time.

Summer is almost here! Plants are in full bloom; the school year is coming to an end and the temperatures are rising. Before you know it, invites will be rolling in for graduation parties, barbecues, weddings and the like. Summer is such a busy time. We want to do all the things while the weather is nice while also slowing down to enjoy the moment. In order to meet those two opposite goals, it’s a smart idea to put a plan in place for the summer.

I know, you are probably thinking that plans and structure are the opposite of the summer vibe–but hear me out. Summer is definitely the time when schedules and plans are looser & more spontaneous. I’m not suggesting reverting back to the rigors of the school year schedule. What I’m suggesting, is that having a general idea of how you want the summer to go and thinking ahead on how to fit that stuff in, is a good move. There are many ways to go about this and one is sure to be your style.

Strategies to Create Your Summer Blueprint

1. Outline a Loose Daily Routine Based on Your Summer Snags

Once the school year is over, my kids and I no longer need to wake at the crack of dawn. This family values sleep and it’s by far the biggest perk of the summer months to be able to sleep in. In the past, I’ve let myself and my kids sleep until we naturally wake. That has shown to be a bit of a problem for us. This year, I’d like to wake before my kids and then I’d like them to be up no later than noon. I know to some of you that may sound insane to sleep so late, but they are teens and that’s what they do.

The next issue we have had in previous summers relates to mealtime. I’m not a person who loves cooking. As a matter of fact, I loathe every step in the process of meal preparation–starting all the way with the planning and continuing on down the line to the clean-up.

However, my children would simply eat nothing if I didn’t prepare it, unless, of course, it came in a bag. I value nutrition and I can’t stand the thought of my children eating a bunch of processed crap all summer. This makes meal planning a must for me. It has to be flexible enough that if we stay at the pool late and order dinner or do a spontaneous barbecue, the prepped food won’t go to waste. It also has to be easy enough to throw together in less than a half hour and be something my kids can make on their own if need be.

The third item in my list of summer snags is controlling the chaos. When summer starts its great; we sleep in, we eat what and when we want, stay up all night, and hang with friends. This is all well and good up until about a week into summer. After that, I go sort of crazy and crave some peace and quiet and bit of a normal schedule. The kids coming and going at their whim and me playing catch up trying to drive everyone where they need to be. On top of keeping the house tidy and everyone eating something, it gets to be too much. That’s why this summer, I’m starting with reasonable wake times and healthy meal preps. Then I’m instituting some expectations around chores, hosting friends and curfews. We can’t have a free-for-all summer, or I’ll lose it.

Now, these are the problems specific to my household. You may have other issues to contend with. Summer can be fun and spontaneous but also not get to the point where everything is out of control.

Time for a Family Meeting

2. What do your partner and the kids think is the ideal summer?

We’ve taken a daily look at our summer days, identified problem areas and thoughts on how we can mitigate them. We have a rough summer blueprint. But we can’t have a summer based solely on what we would like to do. There are other household members to consider. Your decision for was for wake-up times to be around 10 AM. Your kids might think that’s too early and lobby for 11 AM. You may want to visit your Great Aunt Susan at her mountain house this summer, but the kids have their hearts set on going to the beach for a week. Your daughter might have a lacrosse camp she wants to do that’s a full week in July. The hubs might want to host a neighborhood barbecue on Labor Day weekend. You never know until you ask!

Once everyone has had their say, decide as a family what takes precedence. This should be based on what you can afford and how much time you have for said activities. You may be able to join the community pool, if you cut back on something else. Maybe do a drivable vacation to save on airline tickets. It may be that you don’t have enough free days to get your money’s worth out of the community pool after factoring in vacation days, camps, and other events, so you have to skip it. Try to get the maximum enjoyment you can based on your resources. It’s important the kids understand the time and money constraints. It will serve them well later in life to be included in these discussions now.

Plan Your Want-to-Do’s Before Your Calendar Becomes Full of Have-to-Do’s

3. Mark off days you want to have available to complete your summer bucket list.

Have you ever had a totally free weekend on the calendar that you were looking forward to, and somehow by the time the weekend finally rolls around, you end up having plans? That’s because when you have nothing scheduled, chances are someone else is going to schedule that time for you. You know the drill, a friend calls you up and asks, ‘Are you doing anything Saturday?’, you check your calendar, see that it’s free and answer that no, in fact, you have nothing that day. Well, after finishing that conversation, you’ve just agreed to help your friend move. Now you have plans, and they are certainly NOT what you wanted to be doing.

Our summer months are precious. There are a finite number of weekends for us to plan trips, barbecues, family get togethers, whatever. So, my advice to you, is that before you end up with free weekends that get filled with things you don’t really want to do, start planning your MUST DO’s now. Want to make sure you get to your family’s beach house this summer? Plan it NOW. Put it on the calendar, block out the time. If you are unsure of the timeframe, block out multiple days and then decide as it gets closer.

You can even be proactive with your planning. You can block yourself from having to do summer traditions that you don’t enjoy. For example, if sitting in your uncle’s sweltering backyard during his annual 4th of July party sounds like something you’d rather miss, plan something for 4th of July that gets you out of it.

There are many things you can plan to do in the summer that require empty days to achieve them. Maybe your daughter wants to try all the ice cream shops in town this summer, you want to join the community pool, or finally have that girls’ day at the beach you’ve been talking about for years. Think of what you want to do, then block out the time to do it. That way, the things you want to do can take precedence over things that might come up that aren’t so exciting. You can legit say ‘I already have plans that day’.

I will even go so far as suggesting you block off days for NOTHING. I’m a big fan of a no-plans day, so if you see you have things starting to pop up on your calendar and you can spot the period of overwhelm that is to come, there’s no harm in blocking a day or two on either end of your events to rest and recharge. Mark them off as ‘NOTHING DAYS’ and tell your family that nothing is to be planned that specific day.

When the day comes and you are feeling like you want to do something, you have that freedom. But, without being beholden to a specific timed-out plan. You can decide that day that you would like to try the new hibachi restaurant and then go bowling with your family. Or you can decide you want to read a book in the sun, take a nap and then catch up on laundry. It’s your call!

Conclusion

4. Summer Blueprint Created!

By now we’ve taken a daily look at our summer days and then a wide-angle view of the summer as a whole. We have a rough summer blueprint based on the voices of our entire family. The calendar is blocked off for major summer to-do’s and hopefully some NOTHING days sprinkled in here and there. When we get asked if we are available, we can gladly take a peek at the calendar and commit, secure in the knowledge that we will not be taking away time from fun family activities. Of course, you do need to leave a little flexibility in your calendar and that’s just perfect for a loose summer schedule.

When you have those free days with no plans, revisit some of the less ambitious summer activities like making s’mores by the fire on a warm summer night, a family bike ride after dinner or even an epic water gun battle on a hot summer afternoon. Afterall, it’s those little things we often remember most about our summers. Happy planning!

If you liked this post on Creating a Summer Blueprint and would like to leave a comment, feel free! I’d love to hear what you think. You may also like my other posts relating to this topic Summer Survival with Teens – The Neatest Nest or 10 Travel Hacks – The Neatest Nest to help with summer travel.