Adding to Your Life Hacks: Learn from School Delays
After an amazing summer with the kids last year, I was forced to add to my personal life hacks by turning a multiple week delay of school starting into a teachable experience. I wanted to share what happened from start to finish, and provide my own thoughts on something like this for you to consider if you’re ever faced with the same scenario.
Soon enough, you and the family will be off to an enjoyable summer of fun family events. Memorable family activities like vacations to Legoland in California or Universal Orlando / Disney World in Florida rank right up there for a lot of us. Between swim sessions or trips to water parks, kickball meets, movie nights, and fun cooking parties there is one thing that will begin to sit at the front of your mind: their first day of school once summer comes to an end.
Documenting All the Little Moments
I think I can safely speak for most mamas when I say that this is a day we all look forward to participating in. At the very least, so long as the littlest ones are in grade school. Every small thing is a first, so we rigorously document right? Well, I sure do.
Some examples of my diligent mama photo ops include:
- The first day of Preschool
- Their first day at Kindergarten
- The first day of first grade
- …and on and on
All these photos serve to provide an ongoing and persistent recording of our lives together. Photo albums were always big in my family; I’ve only grown to appreciate them more with each year that goes by. A window into the past allows you to revisit these beautiful periods that can slide by so fast with the little ones.
Of course, we’re no longer breaking out the Kodak Carousel in the living room like it’s the 50s. Maybe we’ve lost something from that fun ritual going by the wayside, but we’ve gained such convenience in recording the significant and monumental times that I can’t be too sad about it.
If I open the photo gallery on my phone right now, I’ve got upwards of 3000 photos stored there. Don’t judge me!! Once I got started, I became completely committed to cataloging the lives of the most loved and cherished people who will ever matter to me: the kids. My siblings used to laugh about it, but they often remark now that they wished they had the foresight to take more pictures of birthdays or school dances. Meanwhile, I know what fashion was all the rage with my kids at age 2… or 3. Or 3½.
Suffice it to say that I take a lot of photos. Another big motivation for me to is that I’m running a business while I raise these little terminators. I can’t be there for everything, so I double down on the time I get. When the kids suddenly have an extra several weeks of summer that I hadn’t planned for, I’m filled with equal parts excitement and anxiety over the lost work. But you can bet I’m going to make the most of it.
When Plans Change, Roll With Them
I’m not the only one disappointed about a delay in school starting–you’d think these kids would be doing somersaults about extra summer, but they’re closer to us than we might give them credit for. Too much vacation from productivity can be a negative even for the youngest.
It’s the end of summer, so we don’t have the budget or scheduling to fit in any big activities. I need to make sure that they’re engaged and also work to make them feel like they aren’t burdening mommy with her work. I had to land on a perfect compromise, so I decided to get them involved in the business. Every day would be Bring Your Kids to Work Day that let them feel as important to me as they should.
This turned out to be such a blast that they quickly reverted to being disappointed that summer was ending, they loved spending all this extra time with mama. That’s a big win! And I got to take plenty of new pictures to look back with so much fondness at this special work stay-cation.
Whether your kids may have an unexpected summer extension or not, I can’t recommend enough trying to fit something fun like this in to your lives. Each little adventure adds to the patchwork quilt of fond memories along the way.
