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With the arrival of mid-summer, many of my tricks to amuse and entertain the four children in my house or at least stop the minions from getting on each other's nerves are utterly exhausted. It would be different if I had an inexhaustible supply of money or time but I have neither. So this is about the time in the summer where I have to dig much further into the bag of tricks, since telling them I'm not a cruise director doesn't seem to always work.
This is my Mid-Summer Mom Survival Kit. Some of the items on the list are ones I've used in years past, some I still use.
1. Purchase Wizard 101cards to provide your minion with extra items while playing this family-friendly MMORPG. True, you don't want your children to spend all summer on the computer but with temperatures running past 90 degrees in my area, this is one game that keeps my kid's attention when I need to work. It allows for social interaction with other game players. and is also easy enough that younger children will not get frustrated.
2. Gather information on hiking/nature walks available in the your area. At least once a week, I take my kids out to walk or wander around. Luckily, we live in somewhat rural New England, which means there are a lot of choices for our hikes. I pack a picnic lunch, some water bottles, and drag them out in the early morning, before it gets too hot. The hike entertains the kids and wears them out. Double win. Even though I've lived in my current location for over a decade, I just found a new hiking area yesterday, a beautiful pond that used to be part of the local canal system. We're planning a hike next week.
3. Post the hours of all your local libraries on the refrigerator to remind the minions that they are there. Even more, check out the free activities available at the libraries, which can range from summer reading programs to free writing courses to special events like our recent local Living Dragon demonstration.
Also, many libraries have library pass programs, which is essentially a free pass to local museums and parks. Our local one has passes for both Mystic Aquarium and Mystic Seaport, not to mention several science museums.
4. Legos. Lots and lots of Legos. My kids have outgrown them but in the past, the Lego blocks were a very immersive toy. Second place in popularity were the large cardboard building blocks which can be stacked over small children's heads but damage nothing when they inevitably fall down.
5. Dinner menus. Either print or create a blank dinner menu and hand it to the kids so they can plan the summer meals. My older two are certainly old enough to also cook their meals. Plus for me!
6. Buy an older game system with many games available. The Gamecube is currently $29.99 at Gamestop and there are tons of low-priced games available. Gameboy Advance systems are also available for around the same price and Nintendo just dropped the price of the DS Lite to $99.99 new. If you have even more money on hand, you can go up to, say, the Wii and still buy the inexpensive GameCube games to play in it.
7. Bargain Matinees at the local theaters. Some theaters will even have free movie showings for younger children in the morning. I still have to solve the high-priced and high-calorie popcorn issue but I'm working on it.
8. A Netflix subscription. It's true, Netflix just raised its prices. But the free streaming is wonderful, especially since my kids have been live streaming on their Nintendo 3DS this week. I have no idea why they prefer that over watching on the television while streaming through the Wii, but they do.
9. A Gamefly subscription. This has saved me from being dragged to the local Gamestop and spending money on games that the kids inevitably get tired of in three or four days. With the subscription, they can try out games and then send them back. A trial period will only cost $7.99 but we have the three games at once plan, which is $23.95--still cheaper than one single video game.
10. A copious supply of various types of tea, from soothing lemon creme to vanilla chai to wake me up English Breakfast. Okay, this is more for me. But I need tea! It has no calories, it's a luxury that only takes ten minutes or so to consume and it's relaxing.
Feel free to supply your own beverage or comfort food of choice. Just make sure to hide it from the kids.
